Davide Frattesi's brace gave Italy a much-needed victory in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers as they beat Ukraine 2-1 at San Siro on Tuesday.

The Azzurri were under fire after coming off a frustrating 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in new coach Luciano Spalletti's debut, and had only collected four points after the first three games.

Spalletti made several changes to the starting line-up, with Giorgio Scalvini getting the nod at center-back, while Manuel Locatelli and Frattesi stepped into the middle of the park, Giacomo Raspadori was preferred over Ciro Immobile in a three-man forward line flanked by Nicolo Zaniolo and Mattia Zaccagni.

The home side were aggressive from the very beginning. Raspadori had a good opportunity in the 11th minute as his nice first-touch let him shake off the defender but blasted it over.

The defending European champions took the lead two minutes later when Georgiy Sudakov's howler allowed Zaccagni to win back possession and assisted for Frattesi to drill home.

Italy continued their pressure and doubled the lead in the 29th minute when Frattesi thought he was offside after he found the net, but the goal stood after a VAR check as a Ukraine defender was deemed to have played him onside.

The Azzurri then allowed complacency to creep in, giving Ukraine a couple of chances, as Gianluigi Donnarumma was called into action to get down well to deny Artem Dovbyk in the 35th minute, before Andriy Yarmolenko pulled a goal back.

However, after the break, Italy still created waves of attacks, with Locatelli's attempt smashing the woodwork, while Ukraine were powerless to turn the game around.

With the win, Italy climb to second in Group C with seven points from four matches, six points behind pace-setters England, who have played a game more.

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