Slovakia strike back to hold Italy

Adam Zreľák earned Slovakia a draw in the first leg of their UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off, but Andrea Bellotti's away goal leaves the tie tilted in Italy's favour.

US Città di Palermo forward Belotti caused Slovakia problems throughout the game and made the breakthrough following a 54th-minute corner, Daniele Baselli nodding Domenico Berardi's delivery into his path. However, Jakub Paur picked out MFK Ružomberok attacker Zreľák to level at 1-1 some 15 minutes later.

Luigi Di Biagio's Italy did most of the running in the first half, Dobrivoj Rusov being kept busy in the Slovakia goal. He saved from Belotti early on and from Berardi moments before the interval, with Italy custodian Francesco Bardi given little to do, barring stopping a Patrik Hrošovský header which was pretty much straight at him.

Federico Bernardeschi set up Belotti for another one-on-one after the break, which the big FC Spartak Trnava keeper fielded. Lukáš Pauschek then rescued Rusov by clearing Christian Battocchio's lob off the line, but Italy soon took the lead and, despite conceding the equaliser, will feel they have the wind in their sails ahead of Tuesday's decider.

Dobrivoj Rusov, Slovakia goalkeeper
We put in a good performance. We fought hard until the end. I am glad the fans gave us a standing ovation at the end. We gave them too much respect in the first half and conceded after leaving players unmarked from a corner – you cannot do that. But we scored a nice goal through Adam Zreľák and had some pressure at the end. The last ten minutes showed how we can progress in Italy on Tuesday.

Richard Lásik, Slovakia midfielder
Italy were better in the first half but we dominated the second. We were better in midfield and up front, managing to create some dangerous chances.

Ivan Galád, Slovakia coach
It was a tough game and it will be even harder on Tuesday. For me, the most important thing was the ovation the fans gave us after the match. We were looking to win 1-0. That did not happen, but Italy created lot of good chances. Goalkeeper Rusov showed his class.

Luigi Di Biagio, Italy coach
It was a very physical match, just as I expected. We hope we can settle it at home. Today we created ten good opportunities but scored just once; maybe on Tuesday we can score two goals from two good chances.