RANDAL KOLO MUANI and Ousmane Dembele scored the goals as France bounced back from a home loss to Italy at the weekend by beating Belgium 2-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Monday.
It was not a full-strength French team that took to the field for the game in Lyon, with captain Kylian Mbappe dropping out as one of eight changes made by coach Didier Deschamps.
France lost 3-1 to Italy in Paris on Friday despite taking the lead inside 13 seconds, while Belgium came into this match fresh from beating Israel by the same scoreline.
This game was a repeat of the Euro 2024 last-16 tie which France won 1-0 in Duesseldorf thanks to a late own goal.
Les Bleus went ahead here just before the half-hour mark, Kolo Muani applying the finish after Dembele’s mishit shot was pushed out by Belgian goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
A Belgian side captained by Kevin De Bruyne could not find an equaliser and France scored again on 57 minutes thanks to a fine individual effort by Dembele.
The Paris Saint-Germain winger skipped inside from the right wing before blasting a shot into the net on his left foot.
Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Michael Olise were among the players who came off the bench for France in the second half, as they saw out a victory which will boost confidence after the disappointing defeat by Italy.
taly continued their post-Euro 2024 recovery on Monday with a tight 2-1 Nations League win over Israel in Budapest which put the Azzurri top of Group A2.
Goals in each half from Davide Frattesi and Moise Kean were enough for Italy to win in a subdued atmosphere at the Bozsik Arena which hosted the Israel home fixture due to the security situation in the Middle East.
Luciano Spalletti’s team have reacted well to their disastrous European Championship title defence, which ended at the last-16 stage, and deserved their second win in a matter of days.
Monday’s victory on a soaking night in the Hungarian capital, and France beating Belgium 2-0 in Lyon, allowed Italy to take top spot in their group on a perfect six points, three ahead of both Les Bleus and the Red Devils.
The crowd of 2,000 fans meant Monday’s match did not have the feel of a senior international match, with the main off-pitch event coming during Israel’s national anthem ahead of kick-off, when a small group of Italy fans turned their backs to the pitch.
The Azzurri were slow starters as they were in Friday’s stunning 3-1 win over France in Paris, but were not punished by Israel and grew into the match.
By the time Frattesi chested home Federico Dimarco’s pinpoint cross in the 38th minute, his sixth international goal since Spalletti replaced Roberto Mancini just over a year ago, Italy were firmly on top.
Sagiv Jehezkel should have levelled for Israel just after half-time when he failed to divert Dor Peretz’s scuffed shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range.
But in the 62nd minute Fiorentina striker Kean scored his first Italy goal in almost exactly three years to seal the points, with Mohamed Abu Fani’s strike in the final minute too late for Israel to mount a comeback.
The next matches in this group are in October, including Italy playing Belgium in Rome, and Israel meeting France on neutral territory in Budapest.
He wasn’t giving out after the “winner” in Galway… offside and a foul…. Karma… should have brought the same ref with them
@Mark Anthony McNally: whataboutery. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Now you know what the rest of us feel like Stephen
As a regular at loi matches the standard of refereeing is absolutely shocking the referee at the Derry v rovers match is one off the worst on a regular basis but he not alone the fai really needs to improve the training for these referees.I do not support any club in the league before people start saying this
He’s got a bench that would walk onto most teams in the league but he’s whining about the referee.
Pity about em.
No surprise here really as this ref from mayo clearly has a bit of history in terms of giving disgraceful decisions against rovers. Frankly, he should not be allowed to referee another game until (a) It is clear that he fully understands the rules of the
game and (b) The FAI are fully satisfied that he is going to perform his role fairly and squarely. Failing that, he is only going to continue to drag the reputation of his already tarnished profession through the dirt!!!!!
@T E: swings and roundabouts. Over the course of the season it goes for and against. Reference the Rovers fan on the other thread. And as someone else rightly said the standard of refereeing here is poor, but I also understand its a hard and mostly thankless job.