Zinedine Zidane’s first home game in charge of France ended in a 1-1 Nations League draw with Italy at the Stade de France on Friday. Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a string of saves to frustrate the home crowd, and France finished with 10 men after Dayot Upamecano was sent off late for a second yellow card.
France took the lead in the 55th minute when Michael Olise curled a shot in off the crossbar, following a short free-kick taken by Rayan Cherki. Italy equalised midway through the second half after poor defending allowed defender Alessandro Bastoni to run through and clip a low shot inside the right post.
Italy had an early chance when Moise Kean shot straight at France goalkeeper Mike Maignan from close range. Donnarumma then made a double save from Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué early in the second half, and he produced a brilliant low stop to deny Adrien Rabiot moments after Bastoni’s equaliser. After Upamecano’s dismissal, France kept pushing for a winner, but Donnarumma clawed away Eduardo Camavinga’s shot in stoppage time to preserve a point.
Zidane said afterwards: “We would have liked to win for our fans tonight but I was obviously really touched and delighted to be back at the Stade de France. I am happy with the performance albeit not with the result. We had chances to score a second goal and we didn’t do it. But I am really proud of my players.” Italy manager Roberto Mancini said: “I think this was a great performance tonight against one of the best teams in the world, with very positive aspects to it. We are on the right road, and we need to keep playing this way.”
France stay top of Group A1, a point clear of Belgium, who eased to a 3-0 home win over bottom side Turkey in Liège. Kevin De Bruyne, in his 127th match for the Red Devils, scored the opening goal with a cool finish from the edge of the box after a one-two with Dodi Lukebakio. Turkey posed the greater attacking danger after the Napoli midfielder’s opener but could not find a leveller and were punished just before the hour mark. De Bruyne claimed his second in the 59th minute, curling a ball from the edge of the box past Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir into the top corner. Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time record goalscorer, added a third in the 76th minute from Charles De Ketelaere’s low cross. France and Belgium meet again on Monday at the Stade de France, while Italy host Turkey in Bologna.
In League B, Northern Ireland stunned Ukraine 3-0 in Trnava to go clear at the top of their group and boost their hopes of promotion to the top tier. Ciaron Brown, the only player in Michael O’Neill’s starting lineup over the age of 24, scored twice either side of Isaac Price’s goal. The win puts Northern Ireland on seven points from three games, and they are still yet to concede going into Monday’s clash with Georgia in Belfast.
Northern Ireland’s positive start was rewarded when Kieran Morrison floated a corner to the back post, where Ruairi McConville headed it back for Brown, earning his 33rd cap, to prod home despite Illia Zabarnyi’s efforts on the line. Georgiy Sudakov had Ukraine’s first sight of goal but his 19th-minute effort was straight at goalkeeper Pierce Charles, and moments later Ukraine were 2-0 down when Morrison’s first-time ball into the box was met powerfully by Price at the back post, giving Morrison an assist in his first competitive international. Brown’s second came in bizarre fashion just after the hour: the 28-year-old Oxford defender went up to flick on Pierce Charles’s free-kick from inside the Northern Ireland half, and Ukraine goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk let the bouncing ball slip through his legs.
O’Neill said: “It’s a great result for us, a great performance. The early goal helps settle us into the game. The second goal was a brilliant goal. We worked it the length of the pitch. We were patient. We could have crossed it early but that allowed us to get more men in the box and it’s a brilliant header from Isaac. The third goal is fortuitous but it’s a mistake by the opposition, so we have to capitalise on that, but I thought throughout our performance was brilliant. We limited the opposition to crosses and shots from outside the box and I thought we defended brilliantly.”
In the other Group B2 tie, Liverpool full-back Milos Kerkez scored the only goal to earn Hungary a 1-0 win over Georgia, moving the Magyars level with Ukraine in second place with four points from three games. Edin Dzeko brought the curtain down on his international career during Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 1-1 draw with Sweden; the 40-year-old was withdrawn after 63 minutes of his 152nd appearance, with the hosts trailing after Viktor Gyökeres had scored two minutes earlier, before Kerim Alajbegovic ensured the spoils were shared with an 80th-minute effort.
Poland thumped Romania 6-0 with Robert Lewandowski hitting a hat-trick. Radu Dragusin was sent off in the 22nd minute for bringing Lewandowski down in the area, and the veteran striker converted the penalty. Lewandowski struck again in the 47th and 86th minutes, with Piotr Zielinski, Jan Bednarek and a Virgil Ghita own goal completing the scoring in Warsaw. The Faroe Islands earned a 1-1 home draw with Group C3 leaders Slovakia, Adrian Justinussen’s second-half goal cancelling out a Gunnar Vatnhamar own goal before the break, while Moldova moved up to second in the group with a 2-1 away victory over Kazakhstan. Elsewhere in the third tier, Vasilije Adzic scored twice as Group C2 leaders Montenegro won 2-1 in Latvia, and Cyprus beat Armenia 2-0 despite a second-half red card for Kostas Pileas.