England and Italy played a dull goalless draw in front of empty stands as Gareth Southgate experimented against the inexperienced Azzurri in the Nations League.
After the surprising 1-0 defeat in Hungary and the hard-fought 1-1 in Germany on Tuesday, the Three Lions continued their preparation for the World Cup against European champions Roberto Mancini in Wolverhampton.
The mood surrounding this Nations League encounter could not have been more different than that seen at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley 11 months ago, when crowd problems compounded England’s agonizing penalty shoot-out loss to Italy.
This disorder among fans meant Saturday night’s reunion had to be played behind closed doors in Molineux, where Group A3’s clash ended in a memorable 0-0 draw.
There were just seven starters from the Euro 2020 finals as Southgate tested its peripheral players ahead of a Winter World Cup where Italy will be absent, allowing Mancini to focus fully on their rebuild.
Mason Mount hit the bar early and Aaron Ramsdale fended off Sandro Tonali in an open first half, which gave way for a second half interrupted by substitutions.
Substitute captain Raheem Sterling missed the hosts’ best chance in a game watched by a few thousand schoolchildren. There were a few boos from the kids throughout.
Tammy Abraham (left) started for England instead of Harry Kane (Nick Potts/PA).
Southgate made six changes for the third of four Nations League games in this 11-day mess, with Fikayo Tomori making his full debut, Ramsdale winning his second cap and Tammy Abraham starting in attack.
Mancini also tried out a number of inexperienced players to rebuild the European champions, who came close to opening the scoring in the second minute when Lorenzo Pellegrini put Davide Frattesi through to an outside shot.
This chance set off a frenetic period in which England missed great scoring chances.
Shortly after Mason Mount saw a shot blocked, he pressed so hard that Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma sent a pass straight to Abraham. The Roma forward, who came on for Harry Kane, failed to capitalize.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had to be on guard for England (Jon Super/`).
England drew closer in the ninth minute when Sterling played into Mount, whose sizzling first goal shattered the bar straight from the box. Abraham couldn’t direct the rebound to the target.
After a shaky save from Tomori, Italy right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo fired in a tempting cross before the game slowed down.
Declan Rice volleyed over from a James Ward-Prowse corner in a period of English control before a moment of Italian quality in the 25th minute almost gave the score.
Manuel Locatelli’s stunning diagonal ball was met by a similarly impressive Di Lorenzo cross with the volley that found Tonali at the far post where Ramsdale spread to thwart him.
Jack Grealish (left) and Italy’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo fight for the ball (Nick Potts/PA).
The game ebbed and flowed for the remainder of the opening period.
Jack Grealish met a cutback from Reece James with an impromptu jab and Mount unleashed a pounding effort on Donnarumma, with Matteo Pessina and Locatelli forcing Ramsdale into action before the break.
The game continued similarly after half-time, with Pessina missing the goal before the patient English build-up ended and Sterling missed a big chance.
Grealish played the ball over to the marauding James, whose low cross was somehow turned around at the back post by the forward.
Sterling then saw a snap on the turn, which was denied by Donnarumma as he tried to get that miss behind him.
England (Nick Potts/PA) couldn’t get excited about Harry Kane’s introduction either.
The game continued to a backdrop of high-pitched shrieks from schoolchildren, with Di Lorenzo holding his head in his hands after smashing a ghostly pass from Pellegrini before Kieran Trippier came back to eliminate the threat.
Both sides turned to their bench midway through the second half, with captain Kane among England’s newcomers.
Zurich teenager Wilfried Gnonto came on for the visitors and splashed the side netting shortly after being substituted on.
But the many changes failed to produce a winner for either side as this mediocre game ended in a bumpy, goalless draw.
England will hope to recover and end their three-game winless streak when Hungary arrive at the packed Molineux on Tuesday.
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