Italy edge out Netherlands to win UEFA Nations League third-place playoff

The Azzurri picked themselves up from their semi-final defeat against Spain to make a fast start against the Netherlands.

Inter Milan's Dimarco opened the scoring inside six minutes, before Davide Frattesi doubled the advantage with a composed finish.

Trailing by two goals at the interval, Netherlands gained a foothold in the contest when Steven Bergwijn halved the deficit in the 68th minute.

As the Dutch went in search of a third, Federico Chiesa took full advantage of the space left in behind to restore Italy's two-goal cushion.

Georginio Wijnaldum pulled a goal back moments after Wout Weghorst had an effort ruled out, but it was too little too late, as Italy held firm to record a narrow victory.

Italy have now finished in third place in consecutive Nations League campaigns, while the Netherlands have to be content with fourth position.

After losing their respective semi-finals, both nations came into the contest with the hope of picking up the consolation prize of third place.

Italy boss Roberto Mancini made a number of changes to his side, and it had the desired effect as his side took an early lead.

Napoli man Giacomo Raspadori rolled the ball into the path of Dimarco, who thumped home his second international goal.

With momentum in their favour, the Azzurri took full advantage of their impressive start, adding a second through Frattesi in the 20th minute.

Wilfried Gnonto's deflected shot broke favourably for Frattesi to sweep the ball past the onrushing Justin Bijlow.

Matters threatened to get worse for the Netherlands, when Dimarco tried his luck from range, fizzing a powerful strike just inches over the crossbar.

Following a disappointing first-half performance, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman attempted to instigate a fightback with a triple change, introducing Bergwijn, Wijnaldum and Weghorst.

The alterations appeared to have a positive impact, as the Oranje went close to pulling a goal back within two minutes of the restart.

Virgil van Dijk's lofted pass forward found the run of his Liverpool teammate Cody Gakpo, who forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a smart save.

Half-time substitute Bergwijn pulled a goal back for the Dutch, calmly dragging the ball onto his left foot before firing past Donnarumma.

With the Netherlands searching for an equaliser, Italy launched a clinical counter-attack, culminating in Chiesa guiding a low strike into the bottom corner after working the space for a shot.

Weghorst, who spent the second half of the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Manchester United, thought he had halved the deficit in the 82nd minute, but his strike was ruled out for an offside infringement.

The Netherlands managed to find a second goal, with Wijnaldum lifting the ball over Donnarumma after latching onto Joey Veerman's intelligent pass, but they were unable to find a late leveller, ensuring Italy could celebrate a 3-2 victory.