In Group E, the Italians took care of formalities, while the Irish national team tried to take advantage of the last chance to reach the tournament's quarter-finals.
Antonio Conte's coached team had already secured the first place, so in the match against the Irish, the strategist allowed substitutes to enter the field.
The actively striving Irish achieved their goal at the end of the match and won 1:0.
The Italians tried not to blindly attack the opponent's goal, while the Irish tried to score the long-awaited goal.
Hendrick made a dangerous shot and the ball flew just past the goal.
In the 21st minute, Sirigu defended the goal from Murphy's attack.
In the 33rd minute, the Irish goalkeeper Randolph almost made a mistake, as he had to dribble with the ball to avoid Zaza's attempt to intercept it.
After a few minutes, yellow cards were shown to Long and Sirigu for the outburst of emotions. The half ended with C. Immobile's shot from a distance and McClean's fall in the penalty area, for which the referee did not award a penalty kick.
The main events of the match unfolded at the end of the second half.
The Irish took advantage of L. Bonucci's mistake, took the ball near the edge of the penalty area, and Hoolahan managed to sneak past Sirigu. However, to the disappointment of the "Green Army," the Italian defended.
Coach M.O'Neill was nervously pulling his hair out for a while. Just a minute later, the same W. Hoolahan made a great pass to R. Brady and left Sirigu no chance - 1:0.
Starting line-ups:
Italy: Sirigu, Barzagli, Bonucci, Ogbonna, Bernardeschi, Sturaro, Motta, Florenzi, De Sciglio, Zaza, Immobile
Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Duffy, Keogh, Ward, Hendrick, McClean, McCarthy, Brady, Murphy, Long
Group E table:
1. Italy (Played: 3, Won: 2, Drawn: 0, Lost: 1, Goal difference: 3:1, Points: 6)
2. Belgium (Played: 3, Won: 2, Drawn: 0, Lost: 1, Goal difference: 4:2, Points: 6)
3. Ireland (Played: 3, Won: 1, Drawn: 1, Lost: 1, Goal difference: 2:4, Points: 4)
4. Sweden (Played: 3, Won: 0, Drawn: 1, Lost: 2, Goal difference: 1:3, Points: 1)
