England still without a win in this year’s UEFA Nations League after a goalless draw with Italy at Wolverhampton’s Molineux on Saturday.
The match was closed after sanctions imposed on the FA for trouble with crowds during last year’s Euro 2020 final at Wembley, when Italy beat England to win the trophy after a penalty shoot-out.
The roughly 2,000 children allowed to attend Saturday’s match saw a much less dramatic match this time around.
– ESPN+ viewer guide: La Liga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
– No ESPN? Instant access
The two goalkeepers are the ones with outstanding performances for England Aaron Ramsdale and of Italy Gianluigi Donnarumma each made impressive saves to maintain the score 0-0.
He will probably feel more frustrated when the two sides fail to win after controlling a lot of possession and also seeing Raheem Sterling shot over the bar from within 5m50 with a clear chance in the second half.
Both teams have made some changes from their squad for the European Championship final a year ago.
England manager Garteth Southgate took the opportunity to consider Ramsdale, defender Fikayo Tomori and striker Tammy Abraham at the beginning, with Harry Kane only a substitute, as preparations continue for the World Cup.
Italy’s Roberto Mancini, meanwhile, continues to look to the future with a new generation of players after failing to qualify Qatar.
England are bottom of League A3, with two points from three games, while unbeaten Italy are at the top with five points.
In the final matches of the June window on Tuesday, England will host Hungary while Italy will travel to receive Germany.
While England’s squad has an experimental feel and flat atmosphere, their lack of quality and overly cautious style will be cause for concern with the World Cup coming up in Qatar in November.
This is the first time they have gone three games without a win since Southgate took charge and they have not scored a goal in the last three matches.
“We improved a lot of things today,” said Southgate. “We had two or three really good chances where we needed to score and lacked a bit of sharpness in the final third.
“But the overall performance, I’m satisfied. I think the second half we were the better team.”
Mancini will be the happier of the two managers when his new team plays better football, starting in the third minute when but Davide Frattesi put the striker diagonally to send the ball away from the vertical post narrowly.
Mount should have scored when he started in goal but his save went over the bar.
But slick moves came from Italy and Ramsdale made a stunning save with his foot to deny Sandro Tonali who looks ready to score from Giovanni Di Lorenzoof the horizontal pass.
The Arsenal The goalkeeper must then react intelligently to avoid Matteo Pessinaloop hit on halftime’s journey while Gianluca Scamacca also shot off another chance.
Sterling, tonight’s captain, should have given England the lead but his shot over the crossbar ended a disappointing night for the hosts.
“We were too reliant on Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling and the other players had to step into that void,” Southgate said.
“Some of them have been able to do it with their clubs but not convert at international level.”
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
