Ousmane France’s main man

LONDON: Ousmane Dembele fired the winner as 10-man France beat England 3-2 in an entertaining friendly on Tuesday night after Harry Kane scored twice for the visitors and France’s Raphael Varane was sent off early in the second half.

Winger Dembele sealed the victory with an angled shot from inside the box 12 minutes from full-time after being nicely set up by fellow youngster Kylian Mbappe.

England captain Kane put them ahead from close range from a low Ryan Bertrand cross before the 10-minute mark and levelled the game at 2-2 with a penalty early in the second half after Varane was sent off for bringing down Dele Alli in the box.

The French had fought back to lead 2-1 at half-time, with defenders Samuel Umtiti and Djibril Sidibe each scoring their first goals for their country.

Kane, who struck the late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Scotland in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match on Saturday, has now scored 11 goals in his past five appearances for club and country combined.

But it was not enough to deny a spirited and daring French side.

“We saw in that game the things we’re very good at and equally the things we need to get better at, like defending as a team and managing a result,” said England coach Gareth Southgate. - Reuters