Knowing defeat would knock them out of the tournament, the Slovakians started brightly and had the first effort on goal when Adam Obert nodded just wide from Tomas Suslov’s free-kick.
The early enthusiasm was quickly extinguished, however, as Italy struck on seven minutes. The home defence appeared to freeze when Wilfried Gnonto was wiped out, but Cesare Casadei was alert as he latched onto the loose ball before nestling a fine finish into the far corner to make it 1-0.
Jaroslav Kentos’ side reacted well to that setback, but Italian goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches still went into the break without facing a shot on target.
The pattern continued after the break too, as Italy appeared happy to sit on their lead. That said, they were almost punished just before the hour mark, when Mario Sauer picked out his brother Leo Sauer with a sublime cross from the left.
It seemed like a golden opportunity for a moment, but the NAC Breda midfielder was at full-stretch and couldn’t quite divert the header on target.
Italy then had a golden chance to double their lead just after the hour mark, when a corner fell to Lorenzo Pirola in the six-yard box, but he blazed the ball high over the bar when under heavy pressure.
Needing a goal to keep their tournament alive, Slovakia struggled to build momentum in the final stages as Italy showed their class in managing the game.
Ultimately, they almost got the leveller as an Italian head diverted a set piece towards his own goal, but Desplanches pulled off a fantastic diving stop to secure the win.
The result sees Slovakia eliminated with one game to spare – a dead-rubber with fellow zero-pointers Romania on the final matchday, though they’ll at least want to avoid finishing bottom of the group.
In contrast, Italy still have top spot to play for, as they clash with Spain, who also have a perfect record so far.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mattia Zanotti (Italy)