Italy cruise to victory over Belgium

 ROME - Italy have maintained their unbeaten streak in this year's Nations League competition after fending off Belgium 1-0. This superb run of form means that Italy stay top of their group, three points ahead of France who sit in second, with Belgium now all but completely out of the running with only four points, with Isreal on one point very much out of it.

  Italy scored very early on in the encounter in just the eleventh minute. After some superb tiki-taka style play around the Belgian penalty box, Sandro Tonelli found the ball at his feet with the goalkeeper nowhere insight, firmly placing the ball into the back of the net for what would be the winning goal.

 Belgium did have a few chances to level the game, but all came amiss. The most notiecable came in the 78th minute when striker and formidable force Romelu Lukako's glancing header ended up just wide of the post - a chance that some of his stature would be expected to take.

 Italy will hope to continue their form in their next match against their biggest group rivals France on Sunday, it is set to be an exciting and close encounter.

tjpw