Italy's World Cup hopes remain alive after battling past Northern Ireland in semi-final
The Azzurri had stumbled in the play-off rounds during the previous two World Cup qualification efforts, yet their fans showed no signs of unease from earlier disappointments, generating an electric vibe leading up to the start in Bergamo.
The Italian squad rose to the occasion, with Federico Dimarcos volley in the seventh minute testing the reflexes of Pierce Charles, who was returning to international duty after nine months, before skipper Trai Hume intercepted Tonali's follow-up attempt.
Northern Ireland gradually found their rhythm in the match and managed to keep the four-time champions in check until the interval, leaving the home team and supporters growing more irritated.
Alessandro Bastoni directed a close-range header just over the bar four minutes shy of the break, and Charles handled a straightforward stop from Mateo Retegui during added time in the first half, but away coach Michael ONeill would have been pleased with his teams solid defending overall.
The guests nearly squandered their solid performance eight minutes after the restart when Terry Devlin misjudged a pass back, letting Retegui charge towards the goal, though Brodie Spencer displayed fine speed to recover and dispossess the forward.
Charles followed up with a diving stop to thwart Moise Kean while Italy ramped up the pressure, until the home side at last took the lead eleven minutes post-interval as Isaac Prices attempted clearance looped directly to Tonali, who rifled his fourth goal for the national team into the bottom corner.
The key issue became whether Northern Ireland possessed the firepower to hit back, considering they had netted only seven goals across their prior six qualification games. Still, it was the Italians who seemed poised for another strike, as Kean prompted another diving save from Charles and Pio Esposito had a header blocked on the goal line by Hume.
Kean missed a bicycle kick as Northern Ireland started to flag, and it came as no shock when the Fiorentina forward wrapped up the win ten minutes before the end, latching onto Tonali’s arcing delivery and blasting his twelfth international strike into the goal off the posts near side.
That strike eased the strain at the New Balance Arena, enabling the Azzurri to secure their sixth triumph in seven outings under Gennaro Gattuso (one loss).
Italy will meet either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tuesdays decider for a spot in this summers event across North America, whereas Northern Ireland, now without a victory in nine meetings (two draws, seven defeats), must prolong their absence from the World Cup stage since 1986 by at least four more years.