With Keiren Westwood left on the bench, Best, came on for Kevin Doyle with the scores at 1-1 and got straight in to the action, winning a header which Buffon punched clear.
The scorer of six goals in the Championship was booked for an 83rd minute lunge on De Rossi.
Sean St Ledger, who scored against City for Middlesbrough, fired the Republic Of Ireland ahead with three minutes remaining but in stoppage time, a break by Pepe and Laquinta saw the ball played to Alberto Gilardino who scored to earn Italy a 2-2 draw.
Some City supporters were in the Dnipo Arena to see England lose 1-0 to the Ukraine. Nazarenko scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute.
Wales lost 2-1 in Finland (Craig Bellamy scored) with Scotland's trip to Japan resulting in a 2-0 defeat.