Olise Rescues France’s Winning Start Under…

Photo by Joris Verwijst/Soccrates/Getty Images

Belgium 0-1 France

France continued their wining start under Zinedine Zidane with a 1-0 win over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Monday evening.

Les Bleus targeted back-to-back victories in the group to continue their fine start in the Zinedine era, but the Red Devils were keen to replicate their impressive victory over Italy in Rome and take control of the group.

Zidane was also without the services of all-time leading scorer Kylian Mbappe, who picked up an injury in the win over Turkey last Friady.

With the chances short in supply and a goalless draw on the table, Les Bleus popped up at the death when star player Michael Olise collected at the half-way line and surged forward to curl in the bottom-corner.

Turkiye 1-4 Italy

Italy got their first win of the tournament in League A by thrashing Turkiye 4-1 to give manager Roberto Mancini his first win back in the hot seat.

Redemption was on the cards for the Azzurri after the disappointing loss at home to Belgium, while the Turks looked to find joy on home soil following the narrow defeat to France on Friday.

The Azzurri made a blistering start through a sliding finish by Alessandro Bastoni before Davide Frattesi and Michael Kayode added their names to the score-sheet within the space of a few minutes to give the host a lot to ponder.

The Azzurri were pegged back a minute into the second half with a tap-in from Kenan Yilmaz, although the Italians restored their three-goal advantage instantly when Pio Esposito nodded in a rebound.

Sweden 3-1 Poland

Sweden made it two wins from two matches in League B and dismantled a stubborn Poland 3-1 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

The Swedes made a buoyant start and were in the driving seat in the opening ten minutes courtesy of a well-placed header by Benjamin Nygren, but the Polish rallied back just before the end of the first half through Sebastian Szymanski.

The Swedes were back in control around the closing stages of the match when Yasin Ayari stepped inside and came short to meet a corner and rolled in the net.

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres made sure of the maximum points in the closing minutes with a well-taken first-time finish from a clever overload.

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