France beat Belgium with Kolo Muani and Dembele goals
Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele scored the goals as
France bounced back from a disappointing 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.
The outcome was a source of some relief for Deschamps after
his side performed poorly against Italy.
"Obviously I am really happy with our reaction, and
what we were able to do against a very good Belgium side who posed us problems
in the first 20 minutes, maybe because we were a bit restless given the
context," said the coach, whose name was jeered by some parts of the crowd
when the teams were announced.
"But our performance on Friday was not the worst and I
am not going to say everything is now wonderful, that everything has been
fixed."
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 during what was
nevertheless a poor campaign.
Les Bleus went ahead 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 defeat by Italy.
The Italians are on top of Group A2 with six points out of
six after beating Israel 2-1 on Monday.
France and Belgium have three points apiece, while Israel
are bottom without a point.
The next matches are in October, including Italy playing
Belgium in Rome, and Israel meeting France on neutral territory in Budapest.
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