France are through to the UEFA Nations League finally after a dramatic 3-2 win over Belgium.
Les Bleus had gone 2-0 down before half-time, before goals from Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and a last minute winner from Theo Hernandez gave Didier Deschamps’ side a famous win.
Inside the opening three minutes Hugo Lloris denied Belgium the lead with a sublime save. Lloris was forced into the save by a Kevin De Bruyne half-volley from ten-yards out – following a woeful clearance from Jules Kounde.
The action didn’t really let up thereafter, with France dominating the ball for large periods, but Belgium looking extremely dangerous on the break when they got the ball back.
And it was Belgium who took the lead on the 36th minute mark, courtesy of a deflected Yannick Carrasco strike from just inside the penalty area.
Moments later it was 2-0 to Belgium – the goal coming from Romelu Lukaku (obviously). The Chelsea forward rolled his marker on the right of the penalty area before slamming the ball into the roof of the net from an acute angle.
Belgium were seemingly happy enough to let France have possession in and around their penalty area in the opening stages of the second half, and were almost punished for this tactic when Kylian Mbappe brilliantly slid the ball across to Antoine Greizmann inside the six-yard box. However, the out-of-form forward tipped the ball wide of the post with his subsequent effort on goal (yes, from about six-yards out).
They were finally punished on the hour mark. Mbappe was the creator again, beating two men before passing the ball to Karim Benzema – who after a few tentative touches inside the box, was able to get the ball out of his feet drill it into the bottom right corner of the net.
Soon after it was 2-2, thanks to a Mbappe penalty. The PSG star converted the spot kick after Youri Tielemans needlessly chopped Griezmann down in the box.
It looked like France were a dead cert to go on and win the game and then, out of nowhere, Lukaku went up the other end and converted a brilliant ball across the box from Carrasco – only for his goal to be ruled out for offside.
After the goal was disallowed, Les Bleus went straight up the other end and won the game. After a Pavard cross fell kindly into Theo Hernandez’s path outside the penalty area, the AC Milan star took a touch to compose himself, before thumping the ball into the bottom corner.
Here’s the player ratings from a brilliant game of football:
Thibaut Courtois (GK) – 4/10 – Could do nothing about the first two he conceded. Probably could’ve save Hernandez’s goal.
Toby Alderweireld (CB) – 6/10 – Outpaced by Mbappe (as expected), but was generally solid otherwise.
Josh Denayer (CB) – 6/10 – Really solid in the first half but noticeably tired in the second.
Jan Vertonghen (CB) – 5/10 – Like his defensive counter-parts he couldn’t deal with Mbappe.
Timothy Castagne (RWB) – 5/10 –Got forward well, but was caught at times defensively.
Axel Witsel (CM) – 3/10 – Looked off the pace all night.
Youri Tielemans (CM) – 1/10 – You would not think that this is the same player that we seen at Leicester City last season. Gave away a penalty and was generally just very bad all night.
Yannick Carrasco (LWB) – 7/10 -Opened the scoring on the night and was generally Belgium’s best outlet out wide.
Kevin De Bruyne (RW) – 6/10 – Denied the opener by a wonderful bit of goalkeeping from Lloris. The Man City looked back to his best in the first half.
Romelu Lukaku (ST) – 7/10 – Scored a brilliant goal to double Belgium’s lead in the first half, before it all went Pete Tong for his team.
Eden Hazard (LW) – 5/10 – Thursday evening was the first time Eden Hazard has looked like a remotely competent footballer in about two years.
Hans Vanakan – N/A.
Leandro Trossard – N/A.
Michy Batshuayi – N/A.
Hugo Lloris (GK) – 7/10 – Made a stupidly good save early on, and a few after that too. Good performance for someone who conceded two goals.
Jules Kounde (CB) – 5/10 – Nearly cost his side inside the first three minutes with a terrible clearance, then saved his side’s skin with a brilliant last stitch tackle on the half-hour mark. A mixed bag.
Raphael Varane (CB) – 6/10 – The best of the backline, however Lukaku cause him a few problems.
Lucas Hernandez (CB) – 5/10 – Turned way too easily by Lukaku for the second goal.
Benjamin Pavard (RWB) – 4/10 – Not at the races defensively, exemplified by his inability to close Carrasco down in the lead up to the opener.
Paul Pogba (CM) – 7/10 – Played a few nice passes in behind in the first half, then really started to dominate in the second. Very impressive for France, as per.
Adrien Rabiot (CM) – 5/10 – Sloppy on the ball throughout, however he did work harder than usual which is nice.
Antoine Griezmann (AM) – 6/10 – Missed a brilliant chance at the start of the second half, and then made up for that miss by winning a penalty.
Theo Hernandez (LWB) – 7/10 – Scored a brilliant winner.
Kylian Mbappe (ST) – 9/10 – Looked 20x the player we’ve seen at PSG this season. Ran the show for France, creating the first and scoring the second.
Karim Benzema (ST) – 8/10 – Worked extremely hard all night and deservedly scored a goal.
Aurelien Tchouameni – N/A.
Leo Dubois – N/A.
Jordan Veretout – N/A.
