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Italy came from behind to beat Türkiye 3-1 on Monday in the fourth match of UEFA Nations League A Group 1, with a second-half double from substitute-turned-starter Riccardo Calafiori and a late strike from Francesco Pio Esposito putting the match away after Türkiye had briefly leveled the score.
Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring for Italy in the 26th minute at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, before Aral Simsir equalized for Türkiye early in the second half. Italy regained the lead three minutes later through Calafiori and sealed the win with Esposito's goal in the 87th minute. The match, played before a crowd of 30,040, kicked off at 9:45 p.m. local time.
Türkiye created the first meaningful chances of the match, with Ozan Kabak, Salih Ozcan and Yunus Akgun all forcing saves from Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inside the opening 17 minutes.
Italy grew into the game as the half progressed, and Scamacca put the hosts ahead in the 26th minute with a right-footed shot from the center of the box. The first half ended 1-0.
Türkiye responded after the break. Eren Elmali set up Simsir, who converted from close range in the 61st minute for his first senior international goal, drawing the match level at 1-1.
Italy answered almost immediately. Three minutes after Türkiye's equalizer, Calafiori, who had come on as a substitute less than 10 minutes earlier, headed in a Nicolo Barella cross from a set piece to make it 2-1 in the 64th minute.
Esposito, who had also entered as a substitute, added a third goal in the 87th minute, finishing from close range off an assist from Alessandro Romano to put the result beyond doubt.
The match featured several cautions, including yellow cards for Türkiye's Zeki Celik and Abdulkerim Bardakci and for Italy's Matteo Ruggeri and Scamacca.
Italy made wholesale changes as the second half wore on, introducing Calafiori, Esposito, Michael Kayode, Sandro Tonali and Davide Frattesi, the latter replacing an injured Antonio Vergara.
Türkiye coach Vincenzo Montella made six changes to his starting lineup from the team's previous Nations League match against Belgium, two of them enforced by suspensions to Arda Guler and Baris Alper Yilmaz.
Montella also left out Merih Demiral, Kerem Akturkoglu, Oguz Aydin and Bartug Elmaz, starting instead Kabak, Elmali, Ozcan, Irfan Can Kahveci, Simsir and Akgun.
Forward Can Uzun was unavailable because of injury, while Okan Kocuk, Adil Demirbag, Samet Akaydin, Yusuf Akcicek and Emirhan Ilkhan were also left out of the matchday squad.
Simsir and Kahveci each made their first Nations League appearance of the campaign after going unused in Türkiye's first three group matches.
For Simsir, it was just his second appearance for the senior national team and his first in an official match, having debuted in a friendly against North Macedonia. Kahveci earned his 49th cap.
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Türkiye's traveling supporters filled nearly all of their allocated section at the stadium.
Türkiye's ambassador to Rome, Elif Comoglu Ulgen, and the country's consul general in Milan, Mehmet Ozoktem, attended the match, along with Turkish residents of Bologna and nearby cities and Turkish students studying in Italy.
Speaking afterward, Italy coach Roberto Mancini praised Türkiye as a difficult opponent, saying, "I think Türkiye is a very good national team, they lost but they're a very tough team with very good players."
He added that Italy had struggled with possession early in the match before settling into the game, and credited Montella's work in charge of Türkiye, noting that the team had reached the World Cup and been promoted to League A of the Nations League.
Mancini, who previously coached Galatasaray in Türkiye, said the opponent had been missing three important players.
He also praised Esposito, who scored the final goal, calling him hungry for goals and victories and suggesting the striker could develop into a significant forward in the coming years.
Montella said the result was not what Türkiye wanted but that the team's target remained the European Championship, adding that the match would be used as a development experience.
He described the contest as tactically even and said his side's main shortcoming was a lack of finishing, pointing to possession and attacking statistics he said reflected a competitive performance against a side with a market value he put at roughly 350 to 400 million euros.
Montella also addressed pressure on the team following its World Cup qualification, said he remained committed to the job despite having received other offers, and responded to Mancini's praise by calling the Italian coach a longtime example for him professionally.
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