Manor Solomon set up one of Israel’s goals in a breathless 5-4 defeat to Guglielmo Vicario’s Italy in a crunch 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Group I on Monday night.
The attacker - on loan at Spanish side Villarreal, our opening UEFA Champions League opponents - assisted his nation's second goal scored by Dor Peretz in the 52nd minute which put Israel 2-1 up at the time, after Moise Kean had cancelled out Manuel Locatelli’s own goal.
In a game played at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, Kean scored again for 2-2 and Italy netted twice more through Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori to take a two-goal advantage in the closing stages.
The home side battled back though, Alessandro Bastoni putting through his own net while Peretz thought he’d salvaged a point with a dramatic 89th minute equaliser, only for Sandro Tonali to score the winner in the first minute of stoppage time.
The result sees the Azzurri, for whom Vicario remained an unused substitute, climb above Israel into second place, with group leaders Norway sitting three points ahead.