Substitute Andros Townsend fired home a late equaliser to earn England a 1-1 draw against Italy in a fiercely contested friendly at the Juventus Stadium in Turin yesterday.

Italy had taken the lead on the half-hour through Graziano Pelle’s deft header after defender Giorgio Chiellini waltzed around Phil Jones and provided a precise cross from the left.

It was Southampton striker Pelle’s second goal in his three appearances for the “azzurri”.

Italy’s Brazilian-born Eder, whose late goal salvaged a 2-2 draw away to Bulgaria in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday, almost put them 2-0 ahead four minutes after the break but his shot was brilliantly parried with one hand by Joe Hart.

Andros Townsend rifles home England’s equaliser in Turin.

However, Italy could not sustain the pressure and Roy Hodgson’s England side began to take control. Striker Wayne Rooney tested home keeper Gianluigi Buffon’s reflexes with a fierce shot from the edge of the area after 72 minutes.

Then in the 79th minute Townsend, who came off the bench nine minutes earlier, rifled an unstoppable shot past Buffon from 20 metres to give England a deserved draw.

The result left both teams undefeated since last year’s World Cup in Brazil where Italy beat England 2-1 in a group match but neither side qualified for the knockout stages

Netherlands revived bitter Spanish memories from last year’s World Cup finals when they beat a second-string La Roja 2-0 in a friendly in Amsterdam.

Rather than reliving their World Cup final triumph against the Dutch from 2010, Spain were overrun in the opening 20 minutes at the Amsterdam Arena, falling behind to goals from Stefan de Vrij in the 13th minute and Davy Klaassen three minutes later.

The superiority of the home side recalled their 5-1 thrashing of the Spanish in the group stage in Brazil last year, a defeat which signalled the end of Spain’s glittering six-year run when they won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup.

Experimental side

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque did field a largely experimental side, with Malaga forward Juanmi and Sevilla midfielder Vitolo making their international debuts.

However, Del Bosque will have been concerned that the presence of the likes of experienced campaigners Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla in his midfield did not prevent Netherlands from running away with the match in the early stages.

De Vrij netted the opener from a Wesley Sneijder centre and Klaassen followed up his own saved shot to rifle the rebound past Spain goalkeeper David De Gea.

Pedro and Juanmi came close to pulling a goal back before the break and Bruno Martins Indi almost made it 3-0 to Netherlands with a free header in the 54th minute.

Vitolo, who replaced Pedro at half-­time, fluffed his shot when well placed in the 68th minute and Spain had the better of the final stages but failed to breach the home defence.

Friendlies

Austria 1
Janko 34;
Bosnia 1
Hajrovic 48;

Estonia 1
Vassiljev 55;
Iceland 1
Gislason 9;

Liechtenstein 1
Kaufmann 29;
San Marino 0

Italy 1
Pelle 29;
England 1
Townsend 79;

Luxembourg 1
Mutsch 30;
Turkey 2
Erdinc 4; Calhanoglu 87;

Netherlands 2
De Vrij 13; Klaassen 16;
Spain 0

Russia 0
Kazakhstan 0

Slovakia 1
Duda 49;
Czech Rep. 0

Sweden 3
Ibrahimovic 11; Berg 21; Toivonen 89;
Iran 1
Nekounam 24 pen.;

Switzerland 1
Stocker 80;
USA 1
Shea 45;

Red card: Altidore (US) 80.

Ukraine 1
Yarmolenko 35;
Latvia 1
Maksimenko 90;