Without the talents of talisman and captain Kylian Mbappe, France took on neighbors Belgium at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels on Monday night, October 14, in Gameweek 4 of UEFA Nations League A. The hosts put the 2018 FIFA World Cup winners under a lot of pressure, but thanks to a heroic shift from Randal Kolo Muani, Les Bleus had the last laugh, securing a 2-1 win. The victory allowed France to move within a point of table toppers Italy (10 points). Belgium, meanwhile, remained in third place after amassing just four points from as many games.
Belgium Fail to Punish France in the First Half
Belgium started the game positively in front of their fans, with Youri Tielemans testing French goalkeeper Mike Maignan inside the opening minute. Had his shot not been straight at the goalkeeper, Belgium could have had a decent goalscoring opportunity. In the 13th minute, Tielemans tried to make amends for his poor finishing by floating a delectable ball into the box. Lois Openda attacked it at the far post but failed to keep his effort on target.
In the 21st minute, Openda drew a foul from Arsenal defender William Saliba inside the French box. Initially, the flag went up for a delayed offside, but VAR intervened and guided the referee to award Belgium a penalty. Shockingly, Tielemans missed his chance, firing his effort over the bar. In the 34th minute, Wout Faes handled the ball inside the area, denying Bradley Barcola the opportunity to have a go at the goal. Kolo Muani took the penalty for France, selling Koen Casteels a dummy and slotting the ball on the left side.
Openda, however, denied France the satisfaction of carrying a 1-0 lead into the second half, scoring in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. He applied a fine headed finish to send Timothy Castagne’s cross into the back of the net.
Kolo Muani Seals Late Win for 10-Man France
In the 59th minute, Manu Kone thought he had fired France into the lead. However, a VAR check revealed a foul in the build-up, which ruled the goal out. France had to wait for just three more minutes to get their noses in front, with Kolo Muani dispatching a thumping header to send Lucas Digne’s cross into the back of the net.
In the 76th minute, France went down to 10 men after Aurelien Tchouameni picked up his second yellow card for a foul on Tielemans. With a good chunk of the game still to play, Les Bleus braced themselves to deal with intense Belgian pressure. However, thanks to their steady defending, it did not amount to anything.
Belgium finished the game with an xG of 2.06, while France had 1.42. They also had more shots on target (7 vs 4), created more big chances (3 vs 2), and took a lot more shots from inside the box (13 vs 8). But much to the home fans’ dismay, they simply could not apply the finishing touch.
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