France turn on the style
Paris, Sept. 1: Kylian Mbappe scored the final goal as France cruised to a 4-0 win over 10-man Netherlands in a key 2018 World Cup qualifier on Thursday, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick propelled Portugal to victory elsewhere.
Antoine Griezmann put the home side ahead inside 14 minutes at the Stade de France before Kevin Strootman’s sending-off led to the Dutch being overwhelmed in the final half hour.
Thomas Lemar scored twice, the first from a stunning volley, and Mbappe capped an already memorable day on a personal level by netting his first international goal at the death.
A far superior French side are firmly back on track in their quest to make it to Russia next year after their shock 2-1 defeat in Sweden in June. This result, coupled with Sweden’s 3-2 defeat in Bulgaria, leaves Les Bleus three points clear at the top of qualifying Group A. Meanwhile, Netherlands are fourth, three points behind second-placed Sweden with three qualifiers remaining, including a meeting with the Swedes in Amsterdam in October. Currently serving a fivematch ban in Spain with Real Madrid, Ronaldo showed no signs of ringrustiness as he opened the scoring in a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in Oporto with an acrobatic volley inside three minutes. He scored a penalty and went on to complete his hattrick to make it 14 goals i n this qualifying campaign and 78 international goals in 144 appearances for his country. The reigning European champions, for whom William Carvalho and Nelson Oliveira also scored, are still three points behind Group B leaders Switzerland, whose 3-0 defeat of Andorra maintained their perfect record.
In Group H, PSG’s Thomas Meunier and Romelu Lukaku both scored hat-tricks in Belgium’s 9-0 drubbing of minnows Gibraltar that leaves them six points clear of Greece, held 0-0 by Estonia.
BRAZIL CRUISE, ARGENTINA HELD Montevideo: Philippe Coutinho shrugged off his transfer disappointment with a goal as Brazil beat Ecuador to guarantee top spot in South America’s 2018 World Cup qualifying race while Chile and Argentina stumbled once more.
Liverpool star Coutinho produced a scintillating second-half display in a 20 victory over Ecuador in Porto Alegre.
However Coutinho showed no sign of injury after coming on for Renato Augusto in the second half, enlivening the hosts after a goalless first 45 minutes before a restless home crowd in Porto Alegre.
New Barcelona signing Paulinho opened the scoring for Brazil, lashing home from close range in the 69th minute after Willian’s corner.
The scramble for automatic qualifying spots promises to go down to the wire, with only two points separating secondplaced Colombia (25 points) and fifth-placed Argentina (23 points).
Paraguay also thrust themselves into contention with arguably the performance of the day on Thursday, a 3-0 away win over Chile in Santiago.
Argentina meanwhile endured another frustrating outing after being held to a 0-0 draw by Uruguay in Montevideo.
The draw means Uruguay remain in third place in the standings on 24 points, one behind second-placed Colombia, who were held to a 0-0 draw against already-eliminated Venezuela in San Cristobal.