France finally got off the mark in the UEFA Nations League A2 after beating Belgium 2-0 on Monday evening.
UEFA Nations League
Result: France 2-0 Belgium
Date: 09 September 2024
Venue: Groupama Stadium
In spite of defeat in the opening group game against Italy, Les Bleus named a virtually different line-up, as only goalkeeper Mike Maignan, N'Golo Kante and William Saliba remained, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez reserved.
The Red Devils, on the other hand, did not change what's not broken after their opening victory over Israel, as Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku had Dodi Lukebakio in attack, just behind Lois Openda, who deputized the lone striker role in the absence of Romelu Lukaku.
Domenico Tedesco's charges had a bright start, as they put France under a lot of pressure but they did not take their chances.
However, once France got going, Randal Kolo Muani just broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark with a strike from a rebound in the box.
Belgium regained their momentum towards the end of the first stanza and had the bulk of the possession but they had no dangerous moments in front of goal and went to the interval 1-0 down.
Didier Deschamps' men started the second stanza on the front foot as ten minutes later Manu Kone almost doubled their lead with a curled shot that missed the top corner narrowly wide.
However, just moments later, Ousmane Dembele eventually made it 2-0 with a cracking shot into the top corner after he was released by Kante.
With 67 minutes on the clock, Deschamps finally brought on Mbappe in place of Randal Kolo Muani, for fresh legs in attack.
Mbappe should have wrapped up the game as contest for Les Bleus with 12 minutes to go after a through ball by Bradley Barcola but he fired his shot wide.
France kept on coming and Mbappe had another chance in the last three minutes after he cut inside the box and fired a shot that was repelled by shot-stopper Koen Casteels.
However, Les Bleus had already done enough to secure their first victory and points in League A2 and are, along with the Red Devils, three points behind leaders Italy.
