Griez slips in double
Wilson delight as latest superb free-kick piles pressure on O’Neill
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN’S double rescued France and left Germany facing relegation to League B.
Toni Kroos put Joachim Loew’s side in front from the spot, following Presnel Kimpembe’s handball.
But France equalised as Griezmann stretched to score a superb header from Lucas Hernandez’s cross.
And Griezmann won it with a penalty on 80 minutes after Mats Hummels was harshly adjudged to have brought down Blaise Matuidi. UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE League A, Group 1
France (0) 2 Germany (1) 1 League B, Group 1
Ukraine (1) 1 Czech Rep (0) 0 League B, Group 4
REP OF IRELAND (0) 0 WALES (0) 1 Wilson 58
League C, Group 3
Norway (1) 1 Bulgaria (0) 0 Slovenia (0) 1 Cyprus (1) 1 League D, Group 1
Kazakhstan (2) 4 Andorra (0) 0 Latvia (0) 0 Georgia (2) 3 League D, Group 4
Armenia (1) 4 Macedonia (0) 0 Gibraltar (0) 2 Liechtenstein (1) 1 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES Belgium (1) 1 Holland (1) 1 Brazil (0) 1 Argentina (0) 0 Denmark (1) 2 Austria (0) 0 Sweden (0) 1 Slovakia (0) 1 EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING Group 2: N Ireland U21 (0) 1 Slovakia U21 (0) 0
Group 4: Scotland U21 (0) 0 England U21 (0) 2
Group 5: Germany U21 (2) 2 Rep of Ireland U21 (0) 0
Group 8: Wales U21 (2) 3 Switzerland U21 (0) 1
EFL TROPHY
BURY (1) 2
Telford 4, 67
Att: 454
PORT VALE (1) 2 MIDDLESBRO U21 (0) 0 Miller 6 Att: 554 Rawlinson 66
EVO-STIK PREMIER CENTRAL Barwell (0) 2 Banbury (1) 1 Leiston (1) 1 King’s Lynn (4) 5 Needham (0) 1 Lowestoft (0) 0 Redditch (1) 2 Rushall (1) 1 Royston (2) 5 St Neots (0) 0 St Ives (0) 0 Biggleswade (0) 1 Tamworth (0) 0 Kettering (0) 0 BOSTIK PREMIER
AFC Hornchurch (0) 1 Lewes (3) 5 Bognor Regis (1) 2 Folkestone (3) 4 Burgess Hill (0) 0 Wingate & F (0) 1 Enfield (0) 0 Brightlingsea (0) 0 EVO-STIK PREMIER NORTH Farsley (3) 3 Bamber Bridge (2) 2 Grantham (1) 2 Nantwich (1) 3 Hednesford (0) 0 Lancaster (1) 1 Hyde (2) 4 South Shields (0) 1 Mickleover (0) 0 Matlock (0) 0 Scarborough (2) 4 Buxton (0) 0 Workington (1) 1 Whitby (0) 2 EVO-STIK PREMIER SOUTH Beaconsfield (3) 7 Chesham (0) 0 Dorchester (1) 1 Taunton (2) 2 Gosport Boro (2) 3 Poole (0) 2 Salisbury FC (1) 2 Merthyr (0) 0 Swindon (3) 4 Farnborough (1) 2 Tiverton (1) 1 Weymouth (0) 2 Walton (1) 3 Staines (0) 1 Wimborne (2) 3 Frome (1) 2 LEICESTER U21 (1) 1 Shade 21
2nd TEST (day 1 of 5)
Abu Dhabi: Pakistan 282 (S Ahmed 94, F Zaman 94, N Lyon 4-78) v Australia 20-2
ENGLISH OPEN, Crawley, 1st Rnd (selected): J Higgins (Sco) bt L Yuan (Chn) 4-1, J White (Eng) bt L Haotian (Chn) 4-2, M Allen (NIrl) bt A Hamilton (Eng) 4-2, S Bingham (Eng) bt D Jones (Wal) 4-0, J Trump (Eng) bt
R Hull (Fin) 4-1
3rd ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL Pallekele: S Lanka v England (10)
INTERNATIONAL England v France (7.45) HARRY WILSON vowed to keep scoring for Wales and Derby after demolishing Ireland with a brilliant free-kick.
The 21-year-old showed his star quality with a trademark set-piece winner as Ryan Giggs invested in youth and Wales took charge of their Nations League group.
Defeat leaves Ireland boss Martin O’Neill fighting for his job, but the future looks bright for the Welsh kids.
Wilson said: “I hope I can keep scoring. It’s always a great feeling to score a good free-kick, but especially to get the win.
“The manager is very confident in all of us young players, you can see that in his selections.
“Everyone dealt with it really well.”
The Liverpool star, on loan at Derby, netted a classic EFL Cup strike at Old Trafford to level the tie in September before the Rams won a penalty shootout against Manchester United. Lighting up a dour game, he repeated the feat at the Aviva Stadium.
Harry Arter’s late tackle crumpled Connor Roberts 25 yards out, allowing Wilson to curl the ball over the wall with Irish keeper Darren Randolph skipping the wrong way.
This was Giggs’ investment in youth paying an early dividend. In the absence of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, the Wales boss threw in his youngsters with a front five having an average age of under 21.
It meant starts for teenager Tyler Roberts up front, 21-year-old David Brooks and Wilson creating and Matthew Smith, just 18, in midfield. Their fresh legs and fitness ran tired Ireland ragged in the last 20 minutes.
Even with skipper Ashley Williams, 34, leading the back four, the starting XI average age was under 25, with seven plying their trade in the Championship.
Giggs said: “If they are good enough they will get their chance. I have not worried about age.
“I played for a manager in Sir Alex Ferguson who gave young players a chance. They just have to keep proving they are good enough.
“It is not easy to be missing quality players like Bale and
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: WALES: REFEREE: MOTM Ramsey. I’m most proud of the clean sheet, and us putting bodies on the line.
“Williams was outstanding and man of the match by a mile. I get asked about the young players a lot but the older ones like him are so important.”
After taking the lead Wales grew in confidence and should have had three goals.
James Chester shaved a post with a header and George Thomas missed a one-on-one with Randolph.
Five defeats in their last nine games over 12 months is miserable for Ireland, with just one win against the USA.
O’Neill said: “Naturally, I’m disappointed. We were not short of endeavour but that is not enough, we lacked quality.”
Asked if he would continue he said: “Absolutely. I question myself all the time.
“I did as a player and as a professional, I take responsibility for every kick.”
MATCH STATS