PARIS: Italy crushed Turkiye 4-1 in the Bursa rain to drag themselves into contention in Nations League Group A1, as leaders France struck late to win 1-0 in Belgium on Monday.

In Brussels, both teams had wasted chances before Michael Olise scampered through the home defence after 88 minutes and drilled a shot inside the post.

It gave Zinedine Zidane a second victory to start his long-awaited debut as France coach.

Roberto Mancini’s return to run Italy had ended in Roman jeers on Friday as Italy lost their opener at home to Belgium.

His team dazzled in the downpour in the first half in Turkiye.

“The players all put in an excellent performance today. It was a tough match, and we approached it in the right way, staying high up the pitch and playing aggressively throughout the game,” Mancini told Italian television at the final whistle.

The hosts quickly fell three goals behind with errors in their muddy goalmouth.

Twice Altay Bayindir struggled to reach low cross-shots from the right.

After nine minutes, the Celta Vigo goalkeeper scooped a drive from Pio Esposito round the post.

From the corner, Bursa-born fullback Zeki Celik, who plays for Juventus in Italy, swung wildly at a low near-post cross, deflecting the ball to Alessandro Bastoni. The Inter Milan centre-back lunged to fire into the roof of the net.

After 23 minutes, Bayindir flapped at an identical cross-shot from Michael Kayode into the path of Lazio’s Davide Frattesi, who tucked the ball home.

Intricate Italian passing around the penalty area repeatedly found a player free on the right side of the box.

When Brentford’s Kayode again found himself in that space, his shot for the near post eluded the plunging Bayindir.

Turkiye gave the restless crowd hope in the 47th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn to Oguz Aydin beyond the far post. He found Baris Yilmaz, who gleefully drilled into an empty net.

The comeback lasted five minutes. Tottenham’s Sandro Tonali, in space, hit the post but Pio Esposito dived to nod home the rebound.

After the game, the Inter Milan striker’s thoughts turned to family.

“I dedicate today’s goal to my grandmother, who is going through a difficult time,” said Pio Esposito, who was playing alongside older brother Sebastiano of Sassuolo, who was making his Italy debut.

“Sharing the pitch with him was incredibly moving; I tried to support him before the match without putting too much pressure on him. Let’s hope we get to wear these colours together many more times.”

Galatasaray attacker Yilmaz then curled a shot home but Aydin of Besiktas, bouncing up and down in front of Manchester City’s Donnarumma, was offside.

Monday’s slick display may ease the pressure on Mancini, while piling it on his former Sampdoria club-mate and fellow ex-Italian international Vincenzo Montella.

Montella led Turkiye to the quarter-finals at Euro 2024, but his side finished bottom of their group at the summer’s World Cup.

For their next match, Italy visit the Stade de France on Friday.

“We’ll try to recover our strength and be ready for the match in Paris,” Mancini told Italian media. “I’m confident. We’ve got plenty of young players who are fresh and ready.”

In League B, Sweden won for the second time in Group 4, beating Poland 3-1 in Solna.

Benjamin Nygren of Celtic pounced at the far post in the eighth minute to give the hosts the lead.

Sebastian Szymanski of Rennes levelled for Poland with a shot that hit both posts before going in.

Brighton’s Yasin Ayari restored the home lead when he finished neatly even as he was losing his footing. Arsenal’s Victor Gyokeres added the coup de grace.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are second after winning 4-2 against Romania in Bucharest.

In Group 2, Northern Ireland remained top after they drew 0-0 at home against Hungary, while Georgia and Ukraine also ended goalless in Tbilisi.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026