Belgium condemns Mancini to losing Italy start
Roberto Mancini was unable to mark his Italy return with a victory as Belgium won its first match under new boss Mark van Bommel 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico.
Mika Godts struck in the 20th minute before substitute Dodi Lukebakio secured all three points in the second half with a sensational solo strike.
After Gianluigi Donnarumma and Senne Lammens made early saves at either end, with Charles De Ketelaere and Moise Kean denied respectively, Godts opened the scoring after sending Gianluca Mancini and Diego Coppola to the ground before slotting into the bottom-right corner.
Belgium dominated the first half after taking the lead, but could not add to its advantage as Donnarumma pulled off a brilliant double save to keep out De Ketelaere and Nicolas Raskin, while the Italy captain also saved a powerful header from Godts moments after Diego Moreira miscued a simple finish.
Maxim De Cuyper flashed a shot wide of the right post before the break, but Italy was the bigger threat in the second half as Kean forced Lammens into a clever save with his right leg just two minutes after the restart.
Francesco Pio Esposito then went close twice, first seeing his header go straight at Lammens before the Belgium shot-stopper pulled off a strong save to deny the Inter Milan striker's first-time effort from Nicolo Cambiaghi's cut-back.
However, Italy was made to pay for its wastefulness in the 69th minute as Lukebakio drove forward from the halfway line, cut inside past Sandro Tonali and Daniel Maldini and curled into the bottom-left corner from distance.
The hosts had late chances to force a nervy ending, but Riccardo Calafiori saw his shot with the outside of his boot go wide of the right post, while Giorgio Scalvini inexplicably missed the target from inside the six-yard box.
While Mancini acknowledged Italy's improvements after the break, he admitted its first 45 minutes were not good enough.
"Belgium played better in the first half, we took the initiative in the second and could've equalised, but we conceded on a counter-attack with our error. This is football," Mancini said.
"The first half was below expectations, as Belgium played better, but not the second half.
"The team did really well until that second goal. We had four or five chances to equalise, we pinned them back, but Belgium are a strong side."
Italy, which has failed to qualify for each of the past three FIFA World Cups, was jeered off the pitch at full-time in Rome.
Riccardo Calafiori was stung by the reaction of the fans and has urged his team-mates to focus on the positives from the defeat.
"They hurt, because at times I felt the passion of the crowd. We've got to do better, we all know that, starting from the next match," Calafiori, who won possession eight times and created three chances, said.
"I saw a good team in fits and starts. We've just started working with a new coach, but other areas I didn't like, we left gaps and conceded two avoidable goals. We must try to look at the positive aspects.
"There is a lot of work to do, we've just started with a new coach, so we'll see."
Dodi聽Luk茅bakio Ngandoli
Belgium
Mika聽Marcel Godts
Belgium
