Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso appeared to become embroiled in a heated moment with an opposition player in the moments after the Azzurri’s 5-4 victory over Israel.
The World Cup qualifier, which took place in Hungary, was a largely entertaining affair for more reasons than one.
Manuel Locatelli’s own goal put Israel ahead on 16 minutes before former Everton, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain striker Moise Kean levelled things five minutes before half-time.
By 52 minutes, the Middle East outfit were ahead again, this time thanks to Dor Peretz’s striker, only for Kean to bag a second just two minutes later.
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The four-time World Cup winners made it 3-2 through Napoli marksman Matteo Politano on 58 minutes before Atletico Madrid’s new boy Giacomo Raspadori put the visitors 4-2 up with nine minutes left.
But the Israelis pulled one back when Alessandro Bastoni netted an own goal on 87 minutes before Peretz scored his second of the game to make it 4-4 on 89 minutes.
Luckily for the Italians, Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali was on hand to make it 5-4 and spare his side’s blushes on 91 minutes.
Italy are now second, three points behind Norway in group I of UEFA World Cup qualifiers, while Israel remain on nine points in third.
And despite his side’s triumph, head coach Gattuso was not best pleased at full-time. The 47-year-old appeared to exchange some heated words with an Israeli player while he was standing near the centre circle, as both sets of players also became involved in a feud.
After the match, Gattuso did not directly address the post-game incident, although he did discuss his side’s performance, explaining how his side are “crazy” and conceded “absurd goals”.
"They surprised us a bit at the beginning, even if we put them in difficulty when we developed," Gattuso explained after the match.
"The leg today was not very bright. It's okay, the second game is always like this. We keep a fundamental victory, but we are crazy - we have conceded absurd goals.”
He added: "Although it was not a great day, we had mentality, there was heart and energy. In a match like this, you also need a bit of cunning at 4-2, but now let's enjoy the victory. I will thank the boys. If we want to do something important, we have to improve, but the boys know it."
Italy return to international action with a World Cup qualifier against Estonia on October 11.
Topics: Football, Italy, Gennaro Gattuso, Sandro Tonali
Luke Davies