Italy almost catch Finland open for a counter-attack but Bernardeschi decides to take the ball to the corner flag instead. It's the right move as the referee blows the final whistle!
FULL TIME: FINLAND 1-2 ITALY
90' +3
J. Kauko gets yellow.
Kauko gets a yellow card for bundling over Barella on Italy's right flank. Can't fault his enthusiasm.
90' +2
After a bit of flapping from Donnarumma Italy get the free-kick clear. Sensi goes down under pressure from two Finnish defenders on the left wing and buys Italy some time.
90' +1
Belotti gets in a tangle with Kamara and clumsily fouls the Finnish midfielder. Finland have a free-kick in a central position.
90'
There will be four added minutes. Can Finland grab an equaliser?
89'
Kauko gets involved with the game immediately as he wins a corner down the left. Donnarumma tells his defence to concentrate - and they do, as Italy see it away.
87'
J. Kauko enters the game and replaces R. Schüller.
One last sub for Finland. Schuller is replaced in midfield by Kauko.
86'
Italy get two more chances to seal it as Belotti calls Hradecky into action again with a powerful shot straight at him. Pellegrini blazes over shortly after. Finland get forward down their right and cross in but there's an Italy man in the way.
84'
Italy know one more goal will kill this game. Pellegrini gets caught offside from Sensi's pass.
82'
P. Soiri enters the game and replaces A. Granlund.
Finland make a change to chase the game. Granlund goes off for the midfielder Soiri. Finland will switch to 4-4-2.
Minute
Description
79'
Penalty goal scored by Jorginho for Italy!
GOAL! JORGINHO MAKES IT 2-1 ITALY! The midfielder coolly rolls the ball low into the corner beyond the reach of Hradecky. Italy have got lucky.
78'
S. Väisänen gets yellow.
Vaisanen is booked. He's understandably unhappy with the decision but it is a penalty.
76'
A. Belotti enters the game and replaces C. Immobile.
Bernardeschi steps up and swishes his left foot to curl the free-kick wide of Hradecky's goal. Not a bad effort, but not what Italy need at this stage.
Immobile's game is over. He's replaced up front by Belotti, who scored twice against Armenia the other day.
75'
J. Tuominen enters the game and replaces L. Lappalainen.
Before Italy take the free-kick, Lappalainen goes off. He's replaced by the BATE Borisov striker Tuominen.
74'
P. Arajuuri gets yellow.
Bonucci has a shot blocked from outside the box. Arajuuri brings down Pellegrini and promptly receives a yellow card.
72'
F. Bernardeschi enters the game and replaces F. Chiesa.
Penalty goal scored by T. Pukki for Finland!
GOAL! 1-1 FINLAND! Pukki smashes the ball right down the middle as Donnarumma dives to his left. Pukki runs to the touchline to celebrate with his manager and teammates - and who can blame him? What a crucial goal that could be for Finland.
Mancini reacts immediately. Chiesa is replaced on the flank by Bernardeschi.
71'
G. Donnarumma gets yellow.
Donnarumma is booked for his protests but it was a clear foul. Here Pukki comes...
69'
Both sides are taking turns to run at each other at the moment. It's quite fun, but neither of them are getting anywhere. Oh, wait...
67'
Finland pop the ball around in front of Italy's box. Kamara tries to thread the ball through for Pukki but Acerbi hits the turf to intercept. Sensi arrives to provide back-up and cannily wins a foul off Kamara to put the attack to an end.
65'
Some nice Italy interplay sets Pellegrini off into space near Finland's corner flag. It doesn't come to much, but Italy look comfortable at the moment.
63'
Lappalainen drills a low cross in from the left that Bonucci drops low to block. Italy's captain has been great when called upon today.
61'
You can't say that Italy don't deserve the lead, even if Finland have largely defended well. Finland will have to come out now. Meanwhile, Vaisanen is pushed over by Immobile. The striker ruffles his counterpart's hair in apology.
59'
C. Immobile has scored a goal for Italy!
GOAL! 1-0 ITALY! Arajuuri can only flick on a great cross by Chiesa to Immobile, who gets between Toivio and Granlund to power a header into the net!
57'
R. Schüller gets yellow.
Chiesa beats Lappalainen, luring Uronen to unwisely dive in and miss. Barella rushes into the space and Schuller stops the attack by scything Barella down just on the edge of Finland's box. That could easily have been a penalty.
55'
Italy haven't had a shot yet this half. It feels like it's only a matter of time though.
54'
Italy resume their first half advance into Finland's half. Toivio eventually wins a free-kick in his box after Sensi is too forceful challenging for a header.
52'
Chiesa successfully jinks his way past three Finland players and bears down on the Finnish goal. His attempted pass inside to Pellegrini is intercepted and hooked away by Toivio.
50'
Finland look more enterprising already in this half but they're leaving themselves more open. Kamara knocks the ball out for an Italy throw under pressure from Barella.
49'
The home fans boo as Barella tricks his way past Vaisanen and goes down holding his face. The defender accidentally caught him with a flailing hand.
46'
Finland kick off the second half. Will the Finns hold on for a draw here or even nick a win?
Finland start the half by giving away a free-kick as Uronen fouls Chiesa near the touchline. The home side see the delivery away easily enough.
45' +2
HALF-TIME: FINLAND 0-0 ITALY
Donnarumma punches the free-kick away from goal without much fuss. Finland camp in Italy's half for now. Toivio angles a pass wide to Uronen, who lays off for Lappalainen on the underlap. Donnarumma claims Lappalainen's cross and that'll be it for now.
45'
Lappalainen wins a free-kick on the left flank for Finland as he's brought down by Chiesa. There will be two minutes of added time in this first half.
43'
Italy are really itching to take the lead. Sensi drives forward towards the inside-right channel and curls a shot back across the face of Hradecky's goal, but it bounces wide.
41'
Italy win their third corner of the game when a low shot from Acerbi from outside the box is blocked. Hradecky rushes out and pushes the delivery straight to Chiesa, whose own shot is blocked.
39'
Acerbi fires a direct pass towards Sensi but it's wayward. Lappalainen looks to capitalise as he makes tracks down the left hand side for Finland but can't find his teammates entering the box.
37'
Pukki works his way towards Italy's penalty area but soon finds himself crowded out before he can get a shot away, losing the ball. He goes down in the box but it's not a penalty - nor is he appealing for one.
35'
Finland are under increasing pressure. After Finland's centre-backs pull off some last-ditch tackles on the edge of the box, Bonucci lofts a great ball over the top for Florenzi who fires a fizzing first-time shot right into the arms of Hradecky.
33'
Finland have a clear tactic of pressing Italy when the visitors try to pass out from their defensive third. This time Donnarumma and his defence work their way out without much difficulty.
32'
Immobile tries to thread a pass through Finland's five-man defence. Arajuuri hooks the ball away with a flick of his boot as it bounces behind him.
31'
Izzo curls a cross from deep towards Immobile, who nods a header wide of Hradecky's far post. The Finns have to be careful. Italy are starting to control the game.
29'
Italy are upping the tempo now. Hradecky drops low once more to make a routine save from Barella's trickling shot. Pukki stays down briefly. Thankfully it's only to relace his boots.
25'
Finland's pressing is causing Italy problems. Donnarumma rushes to get the ball out of his feet under pressure from Pukki, then Jorginho hands the ball straight to Kamara whose shot is blocked by the back of Acerbi.
24'
Florenzi flashes a snap shot wide after Toivio doesn't fully head an aerial ball away. Nothing for Hradecky to worry about too much.
23'
Barella curls a ball towards Immobile but Toivio steps forward to head it away. The Finland fans look to be having fun.
21'
Jorginho gets yellow.
Jorginho is booked for sliding into the back of Pukki as the striker tries to race onto a rogue ball. It's a deserved yellow card.
20'
Chiesa races into the space between Vaisanen and Uronen down the right and lifts in a cross. Barella air-kicks his volley and the chance comes to nothing.
18'
Uronen hits the turf again seconds later as he's this time impeded by Izzo. Finland loft the free-kick in but Italy manage to get it away.
14'
Pukki won't let Italy's defence rest for a second. The Norwich striker chases down a pass back to Donnarumma, forcing the Italy keeper to hoof it out of play.
12'
Italy play keep-ball for a while until Acerbi fires a direct pass straight to one of Finland's centre-backs. They still have the ball through. Pellegrini wins a corner off Granlund. Nothing comes of it.
10'
Finland keep pushing Italy back into their own half, Pukki always looking to dart behind the visitors' centre-backs. Italy eventually manage to hook the ball away.
9'
Finland pass the ball around crisply, daring Italy to press them. Granlund wins a throw-in off Florenzi.
8'
A. Florenzi enters the game and replaces Emerson.
Florenzi comes on to replace Emerson at left-back. Not the beginning to the game Italy would have wanted.
6'
Italy surge forward from the corner and Sensi has a shot blocked from distance. Pukki powers away from Emerson on the counter-attack before Izzo arrives to help out. Pukki lays off to Kamara, who can't quite feed the ball through. This is electric stuff so far.
4'
Finland get upfield in increments before suddenly getting a chance on goal! Schuller gets slipped through but Bonucci comes across to put the ball out for a corner.
2'
Italy keep the ball from the kick-off, passing the ball around nicely. They only concede possession when Pellegrini is caught offside from a switch of play by Bonucci.
1'
The Scottish referee Bobby Madden blows his whistle and Italy get this Group J top-two clash underway!
Hello and welcome to our live text commentary of this UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group J clash between Finland and Italy at Tammelan Stadion in Tampere.
Finland have been one of the surprise packages of this Euro qualifying campaign. The sturdy Finns - led up front by Norwich hero Teemu Pukki - made it four wins in a row in Group J after dispatching Greece 1-0 earlier this week. They'll go into this home game full of confidence of toppling table-toppers Italy.
Italy, though, have a perfect record in Group J after five wins in five games. Indeed, the Azzurri inflicted Finland's only defeat in this group 2-0 in Italy back in March. With their group rivals floundering behind them, a win for either side would surely be a huge step towards qualification. Can the Finns pull off an upset as they chase their first ever finals tournament? We'll see!
FINLAND (5-4-1): Lukas Hradecky (c); Albin Granlund, Joona Toivio, Paulus Arajuuri, Sauli Vaisanen, Jere Uronen; Robin Lod, Rasmus Schuller, Glen Kamara, Lassi Lappalainen; Teemu Pukki.
SUBS: Petteri Forsell, Fredrik Jensen, Rasmus Karjalainen, Simon Skrabb, Leo Vaisanen, Jesse Joronen, Juha Pirinen, Pyry Soiri, Jasse Tuominen, Joni Kauko, Anssi Jaakkola, Jukka Raitala.
SUBS: Gianluca Mancini, Stephan El Shaarawy, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Kevin Lasagna, Alex Meret, Alessio Romagnoli, Federico Bernardeschi, Andrea Belotti, Alessandro Florenzi, Vincenzo Grifo, Sandro Tonali, Salvatore Sirigu.
Finland boss Markku Kanerva makes four changes to the team that beat Greece mid-week - he lines his side up in a defensively minded 5-4-1 formation to counter Italy's attacking threat. Italy make five changes to the side that defeated Armenia 3-1 in their last match. Marco Verratti has gone home after picking up a suspension in that game, so Inter's loanee midfielder Sensi steps in for him in midfield.
This could be a tight game. Both sides have conceded just two goals each in their five prior group games. In fact, the only goals Finland have let in both came in that March defeat to Italy. Armenia took the lead against the Italians the other day, hinting they have a soft underbelly. Will Finland have learnt from their defeat the last time these sides met?
Finland and Italy take to the field and belt out their respective national anthems. They both look up for it. We're up for it. Let's get this match started!
Italy's win leaves them six points clear of Finland at the top of Group J and cruising for qualification to the Euro 2020 finals. Finland stay second on 12 points, only three points ahead of Armenia after they beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 4-2 in Yerevan. Greece's 1-1 draw with Liechtenstein pretty much ends their hopes of qualifying.
Italy can probably start thinking about the Euros next summer while Finland still have work to do. On tonight's evidence, the Finns have enough to make it. Their games against Bosnia and Armenia in October look like they'll be crucial in deciding who gets that second spot. That's all for now. Goodbye!
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