Montenegro 0 - 2 Italy

Match Report
Italy took a crucial three points from what was on paper a tough away match in Montenegro. Italy made a dream start early on in the match through a deserved penalty after the ball was handled in the area. Andrea Pirlo stepped up and cheekily chipped the penalty into the top corner with the ball coming in off the woodwork. Despite only having around 38% of possession throughout the match it was a fairly comfortable ride for the Azzurri, with Buffon only notably stretched once after pulling off a superb one handed stop from a Djalovic volley. However, the three points were well and truley wrapped up in the 75 minute when a superb long ball from Pirlo was found by Pepe who put in a fantastic cross for substitute Pazzini who on his debut fired home with a stunning diving header. However, a victory that looked quite comfortable perhaps should not have been so, as half was through the first half Fabio Cannavaro, acting as the last man, should have been shown the red card after blatantly taking down the superb Stefan Jovetic. For me Cannavaro has lost a step or two since his instrumental displays in Germany, and may actually be more of a liability these days especially in comparison to the brave Chielini who played the match with a broken nose.

My Players of the Game

Andrea Pirlo: Great vision for the second goal and a cheeky penalty made for an excellent performance by the AC Milan playmaker. Every attacking play started with him and that is why he is so crucial to this lineup.

Gianluigi Buffon: Only one stop to make all night, but what a stop is was. It takes a world class keeper to be almost totally inactive for the whole game and then to pull out a stop of that calibre.

Giampaolo Pazzini: Its all about taking your chances, and he did. Iaquinta has been in superb form but looked isolated last night. But Pazzini finished off a wonderful move by Italy and confirmed his status as the inform Serie A striker at this moment in time. With Rossi, Gilardino, Toni and Iaqinta appearing to be battling for the striker position Pazzini has thrown his name into the hat and may start against Ireland this Wednesday.