Insigne helps Italy beat Belgium; Spain survive shoot-out scare

The Euro 2020 quarter-final got under way on Friday with two thrilling games.

Here’s what happened …

Insigne golazzo the difference between Italy and Belgium

Scorers: Lukaku (P) 45+2′; Barella 31′, Insigne 44′

Italy will meet Spain in the semi-final after coming through an absorbing contest with Belgium in Munich.

Italy thought they’d taken the lead in the 13th minute, when Lorenzo Insigne’s cross was bundled in at the back post by Leonardo Bonucci but after a VAR check, the goal was disallowed for offside.

Belgium then had a chance to score when Kevin De Bruyne unleashed a vicious effort with his left foot, but Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to it.

Italy did then take the lead, when Nicolò Barella fired a superb finish into the far corner after wriggling away from a clutch of Belgian defenders in the box.

Just before half-time the Azzurri went 2-0 up with another beautiful goal, as Insigne curled a wonderful strike past Thibaut Courtois and into the top corner.

The first half drama wasn’t done there however, as Belgium were awarded a penalty for a Giovanni Di Lorenzo foul on Jeremy Doku in stoppage time.

Romelu Lukaku stepped up and fired past Donnarumma for 2-1.

Into the second half and Lukaku had a wonderful chance to equalise when he was picked out at the back post by Kevin De Bruyne, but the Belgian striker’s effort was blocked on the line by Leonardo Spinazzola.

Then it was Spinazzola’s turn to spurn a good chance at the other end, when he was unable to divert Insigne’s clever dink on target.

And Spinazzola’s night and possibly his tournament was brought to a cruel end with 12 minutes of normal time to go, when he appeared to twist his ankle while running for the ball and left the pitch in tears on a stretcher.

Doku tried to force an equaliser for Belgium with some dangerous dribbling coming in off the left flank, but his shot flew over the bar and that proved to be the Red Devils’ last throw of the dice.

Spain survive Swiss scare to progress on penalties

Scorers: Shaqiri 68′; Zakaria OG 8′

Spain needed to survive an anxious penalty shootout to finally see off a Yann Sommer-inspired Switzerland, who played over 40 minutes with 10 men, and book their place in the Euro 2020 semi-finals.

Jordi Alba gave them a half-time lead in Saint Petersburg, with his volley from the edge of the area skewing past Sommer with the aid of a huge deflection from Denis Zakaria, who was ultimately credited with the own goal.

The Swiss were much improved in the second half and got the goal they deserved following a huge mix-up between Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres at the back, allowing the ball to be quickly squared across the box by Remo Freuler for Xherdan Shaqiri to tuck away the equaliser.

But their task was made much harder when Freluer was shown a straight red card for a challenge which seemed very unfair on the Atalanta star.

In extra-time, the game belonged to Sommer, who turned in an exceptional performance to deny Spain time after time, although he was helped a little by Gerard Moreno’s misfiring, having shot wide with the goal gaping to ensure it went to penalties.

After winning in a shootout in the previous round, Switzerland couldn’t repeat the feat as defenders Fabian Schär and Manuel Akanji were denied by Unai Simón before Ruben Vargas blasted over, setting La Roja up for a 3-1 win from the spot.