Hungary with Bundesliga quartet
The Hungarians, who had four Bundesliga players in the starting eleven in Willi Orban, Dominik Szoboszlai (both RB Leipzig), Roland Sallai (SC Freiburg) and Andras Schäfer (Union Berlin), were unable to do so after their opening win against England (1-0). put another exclamation mark.
Italy’s coach Roberto Mancini relied on youngsters up front in 18-year-old Wilfried Gnonto and 22-year-old Raspadori – and his team came into the game stormy. But it wasn’t until the 21st minute before Hungary goalkeeper Denes Dibusz was seriously tested by central defender Mancini after a corner.
Missed chances to make a preliminary decision
At the other end, Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma cleared a dangerous low shot from Sallai (26′) for a corner. After that, Raspadori and Pellegrini gave the Italian team a reassuring half-time lead.
After the break, the Italian team failed to increase early – a shot by Matteo Politano (55th) hit the crossbar. A little later, Mancini unluckily steered a Hungarian cross into his own goal from the right.
Turkey in goal mood
Two classes lower, Stefan Kuntz celebrated the second shooting festival in a row with Turkey. Kuntz meanwhile defended the lead in group C1 with a sovereign 6:0 (2:0) in Lithuania. Dogukan Sinik (2nd/14th), ex-Darmstadt player Serdar Dursun (56th, penalty kick/81st), Yunus Akgün (89th) and Halil Dervisoglu (90th + 1) scored in Vilnius for Turkey, who with started the season with a 4-0 win over Faroe Islands
Salih Özcan, who switched from 1. FC Köln to Borussia Dortmund in the summer and only decided against a future in the DFB team in March, was in the starting XI for the first time. Turkey was relegated from the B-League in the last Nations League season as the bottom of the group.
Pohjanpalo scores twice
Second is Luxembourg, also with six points, who won 1-0 (0-0) on the Faroe Islands. In Group B3, Finland took the lead with four points thanks to Joel Pohjanpalo. The Bayer Leverkusen goalscorer, who was last loaned out to Turkish club Caykur Rizespor, scored both goals in the 2-0 (2-0) win against Montenegro in Helsinki.
Bosnia and Herzegovina follow in second place with equal points after beating Romania 1-0 (0-0). Haris Duljevic from second division Hansa Rostock provided the template for the winning goal by Smail Prevljak (68th).
Source: red/sid/dpa