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France defeated Belgium 1-0 thanks to a late substitute goal from Michael Olise, while Italy thrashed Turkey 4-1 with a dominant first-half performance, keeping both teams at the top of their respective groups.
Photograph: Daniel Weir/ Sports Press Photo/ShutterstockBelgium 0-1 France, Turkey 1-4 Italy, Sweden 3-1 Polandvictory over Belgium in Brussels, as Zinedine Zidane made it two wins out of two since being named as the new head coach.
Bayern Munich star Olise came off the bench late on with the game goalless, and set off from inside his own half to score the winner in the 88th minute. Olise collected possession inside his own half and advanced all the way to the edge of the Belgian area before curling a shot beyond the reach of Senne Lammens.
France were missing Kylian Mbappé, who has returned to Real Madrid after injuring his left knee while scoring the winner againston Friday. The visitors still had the better of the chances with Desire Doué cracking a shot off the bar in the first half and debutant Lucas da Cunha striking the post early in the second half.
The contest was heading to an unremarkable goalless conclusion until Olise intervened, having been sent on in the 77th minute in place of Bradley Barcola. France sit top of Group A1 with six points and will host Italy at the Stade de France on Friday, whileRoberto Mancini’s team dazzled in the downpour, scoring three goals inside the first half-hour as the hosts were punished for defensive errors in their muddy goalmouth.
Italy went ahead when Bursa-born fullback Zeki Celik swung wildly at a low near-post corner, deflecting the ball to Alessandro Bastoni who fired into the roof of the net. After 23 minutes, Altay Bayindir flapped at a cross-shot from Michael Kayode and sending into the path of Lazio’s Davide Frattesi, who tucked the ball home. Four minutes later, Kayode found himself free on the right side of the penalty area, and his near-post shot eluded the Turkish keeper.
Turkey gave the restless home crowd hope in the 47th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn to Oguz Aydin beyond the far post. Aydin found Baris Yilmaz who drilled into an empty net, but the comeback lasted five minutes. Pio Esposito headed home Italy’s fourth after Sandro Tonali had struck the post. Yilmaz curled a shot home that appeared to cut the gap again but Aydin, bouncing up and down in front of Donnarumma, was offside.
Esposito and his older sibling, Sebastiano, also made history in Bursa, becoming the first brothers to start an Italy game together since Aldo and Luigi Cevenini in 1915.where the hosts passed up chances to take all three points. Patrick Kelly twice went close in the first half, hitting the crossbar with a looping effort, and Isaac Price was denied by Balazs Toth late on.
Michael O’Neill’s side could not make the breakthrough, though, and there were nervous moments late on as Ruairi McConville blocked Willi Orban’s shot and Pierce Charles saved from Alex Toth. Northern Ireland sit joint-top of their group alongside3-1 in Solna to earn their second win in two games. Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren pounced at the far post after eight minutes to give the hosts the lead, but Sebastian Szymanski levelled with a shot that hit both posts before going in.
Yasin Ayari restored the home lead when he finished neatly even as he was losing his footing, before Arsenal forward Victor Gyökeres added the coup de grace.
France Italy UEFA Euro Qualifiers Michael Olise Zinedine Zidane
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