Robert Lewandowski’s retaken penalty cost Les Bleus top spot in Group D… but captain Mbappe broke up his disappointing Euros campaign as he returned to the starting line-up.
Yes, the mask fit well, and Kylian Mbappe looked great in it. After a successful penalty kick, he tore it off to take the compliment. However, one swallow does not make a summer; Poland pulled the game back, and the French people will be nervous in the following days.
The outcome, which sets up France’s encounter against the second-place squad in Belgium’s Group of Chaos, demonstrates that the team is attempting to find the same power and unity that the Germans and Spanish have.
It was present during Austria’s exhilarating first half but has not been properly noticed since.
They’ve had plenty of opportunity to manage the group; this time, they only needed seven of twenty bullets to find the target. However, Batman lacked one or two Robins.
Ngolo Kante committed two critical errors in the first half. Ousmane Demebele, one of the few blue players capable of splitting the lines, fizzed the ball into the six-yard box, but no one was ready to take it on and convert.
Didier Deschamps’ decision to sit Antoine Griezmann after a poor performance against the Netherlands took up a large chunk of his press conference last night.
Robert Lewandowski scored his first – and last – goal of the tournament from the spot vs France
Kylian Mbappe was also able to get off the mark following a penalty in his return to the first XI
The captain of France had never before scored in a competition held under the European Championship.
Griezmann intimated that he had been prepared to begin, but the calibre of France’s chief creative officer was lacking in Qatar.
Reiterating that there was no significance to an apparent altercation between the two of them on the bench when he appeared to be yelling at Griezmann, Deschamps stood by his decision.
No. He remarked, “I could have done this with any player while I was on the bench.” Don’t take anything too seriously. He accepted it with a smile and no problems. I have no idea what rumours you’re hearing from the baker or butcher in your community. My team will have disgruntled players who are sitting on the bench.
From a French point of view, the good news is that Mbappe’s voodoo is removed, as his converted spot-kick early in the second half, following a clumsy Demebele takedown, finally gave him a goal at the European Championships.
In 535 minutes of football played throughout two European Championship games, Mbappe’s 23 shots had yielded zero goals in the past. Since nearly over 40 years ago, when statisticians began to count, no French player had struck more without success.
The skipper was everywhere, constantly searching for possession and constantly scurrying between the lines to give and receive. Such dexterous feet. However, there weren’t many occasions when he could just soar as the front-runner in the counterattacking unit, which, at its finest, can be quite vicious.
Although he used his teammates’ angles to his advantage, he twice went up to goalie Lukasz Skorupski on the byline with the ball at his feet. It resembled trying to score in a locked cabinet.
There were extenuating circumstances in the presence of Bologna’s Skorupski, the game’s outstanding player. Mbappe’s penalty seemed to have sealed things – with Austria and Netherlands level, France went to the top of the group – before things began to unravel.
The goal that got the Real Madrid man away was a long-awaited spot kick in the second-half
Mbappe was a challenge to handle and frequently France’s only line-breaker – as Nicola Zalewski (right) found out
France 1-1 Poland: MATCH FACTS
France (4-3-3): Maignan, Hernandez, Saliba, Upamecano, Kounde, Rabiot (Camavinga), Kante (Griezmann), Tchouameni (Fofana) Barcola (Giroud), Mbappe, Dembele (Kolo Muani)
Subs not used: Samba, Areola, Pavard, Mendy, Clauss, Konate, Zaire-Emery, Coman, Thuram
Goals: Mbappe (56′)
Booked: Rabiot
Manager: Didier Deschamps
Poland (3-4-3): Skorupski, Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior, Frankowski, Moder, Zielinski, Zalewski (Skoras), Szymanski (Swiderski), Lewanski, Urbanski
Substitutes not used: Szczesny, Bulka, Salamon, Walukiewicz, Bereszynski, Slisz, Romanczuk, Piotrowski, Grosicki, Puchacz, Syzmanski, Buksa, Piatek
Goals: Lewandowski (79′)
Booked: Probeierz, Zalewksi, Dawidowicz, Swiderski
Manager: Michael Probierz
Referee: Marco Guida
Ousmane Dembele was another thorn in Poland’s side but France were unable to seize chances
Mike Maignan was able to simply stop Lewandowski’s first penalty after a stuttered run-up
The Barcelona striker had previously cut a frustrated figure in attack for the rock-bottom side
Bologna’s Lukasz Skorupski was Poland’s most outstanding player, preventing Les Bleus from taking the top spot in the group.
After a VAR review, Poland was given a penalty for relatively harmless boot-on-boot contact between Dayot Upamecano and Polish replacement Karol Swiderski.
During a ludicrous shuffling run-up, Lewandowski saw Maignan save the kick, but the goalie had advanced past his line. The Poles levelled the score after the penalty was retaken with the same run-up.
As he prepared for the round of 16 match in Dusseldorf on Monday, Deschamps noted that “a new competition” had begun. A competition cannot always be understood from the group stage alone. I’m happy that we came in second; we deserve it. It is by no means the consensus opinion. France is searching for much more complete ignition.
