VIDEO NASTY!
England fold after red rocks French
THE temptation to blame Theresa May might have been considerable in the England dressing room. Our chastened Prime Minister was here after all.
But Gareth Southgate will have to take the rap for this one as his decision to square up to this ferocious French attack with such a brittle defence proved England’s undoing.
Even after losing Raphael Varane to a controversial red card, awarded at the behest of the video referee, at the start of the second half, these precociously gifted France players had too much pace, skill and power for England in what, for an end-of-season friendly, was a surprisingly committed, entertaining encounter.
Lesser players might have chosen to consolidate after going a man down and seeing Harry Kane equalise from the penalty spot, with the new England skipper’s third goal in the two games in which he has worn the armband.
But this is some French squad Didier Deschamps boasts, given the stature of the players — Antoine Griezmann among them — absent from this contest.
In Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, the French had two players who dominated the midfield and in Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe we saw two young forwards with whom England could not cope.
They exploited the space afforded them by a back three to devastating effect, with 18-yearold Mbappe reminding us why he is being so vigorously pursued by Europe’s leading clubs.
The two forwards combined for the decisive 78th-minute strike, Mbappe skinning a disappointing John Stones before inviting Dembele to beat Jack Butland with an excellent finish.
‘Scoring two goals away from home in France should be enough,’ said Kane. ‘We have got to find a way to win them, especially when they go down to ten men. We just weren’t good enough.
‘We will have to look back and see why. They were just getting too much space in vital areas, even with ten men.
‘After getting back to 2-2, them going down to ten men put us in the driving seat, but we didn’t step it up another gear and they seemed to get a second wind. It wasn’t good enough.’ England started well enough, Kane opening the scoring after nine minutes with a well-executed goal that came after some decent movement and precise passing. But as well as further evidence of alarming fragility at the back after a similar display against Scotland last weekend, Southgate will be concerned by the lack of dynamism in his side. A year out from the World Cup, only one of these sides looks capable of making an impact in Russia and it was not the one in white. The Stade de France provided a perfect setting for a moving display of unity in the battle against terror, with the French military band’s rendition of
Don’t Look Back In Anger a particularly poignant moment.
But once the game got under way the commitment, certainly of French players clearly keen to impress their manager, could not be faulted.
England began brightly, with Raheem Sterling playing a crucial role in Kane’s opening strike. He received a fine diagonal ball from Dele Alli before sending Ryan Bertrand clear with a clever back-heel. England’s wing-back passed across the six-yard box and into the path of Kane for an easy finish.
The French were quick to react. Olivier Giroud found the net but the goal, rightly, was disallowed for offside. Dembele should have equalised when Mbappe sent him clean through with a marvellous pass off the outside of his right boot but Dembele miscued and the ball spun wide.
France maintained the pressure and equalised after 22 minutes thanks to poor defending at a set-piece. Tom Heaton did well in saving the initial header from Giroud but the failure even to challenge Samuel Umtiti for the rebound will trouble Southgate. It was a soft goal to concede.
It was quickly becoming a stern test for England, even if they might have regained the advantage when Eric Dier nearly scored from a corner. He had Hugo Lloris’s goal at his mercy but failed to force a save from his Tottenham team-mate, instead shooting wide.
The dominance of Pogba and Kante in central areas nevertheless provided the hosts with the ideal platform and the direct running of Mbappe and Dembele stretched England to the limit.
With two minutes of the first half remaining, Dembele surged past Stones before unleashing a shot that Heaton again did well to save only for England’s defenders to again finish second in the race to the rebound. This time, Djibril Sidibe got there first to give France the lead.
The first use of a video referee in an England international allowed the visitors to force their way back into the game after the break, as replays showed that Varane had fouled Alli in the French penalty area and Kane did the rest.
But not even the disadvantage of losing the Real Madrid defender deterred these prodigiously talented French players, who instead provided Southgate with the clearest indication yet of the size of the task he has taken on.