MILAN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Italy's Davide Frattesi struck twice for a 2-1 win over Ukraine in their Euro 2024 Group C qualifier on Tuesday to provide new manager Luciano Spalletti with a promising start on home soil.
Italy were held to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia on Saturday in Spalletti's debut match so the pressure was on the former Napoli coach to deliver at San Siro.
Italy are now second in the standings on seven points ahead of Ukraine on goal difference and with a game in hand on all their group rivals.
"There was a lot of pressure in recent weeks, and I had to understand many things in a short time," Spalletti told RAI.
Just before the half-hour mark Frattesi got his second goal by calmly slotting home once again from close range, capitalising on a ricocheted shot.
Persons:
Italy's Davide Frattesi, Luciano Spalletti, Spalletti, it's, Mattia Zaccagni, Frattesi, I've, Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Locatelli, Tommy Lund, Clare Fallon, Ken Ferris
Organizations:
Ukraine, Napoli, England, RAI, Inter Milan, Inter, Thomson
Locations:
Italy, Macedonia, San Siro, Ukraine, Sassuolo, Gdansk