Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Sports

Italy stun France 3-1 to hand Zidane first defeat as Les Bleus coach

Italy came from behind to beat France 3-1 in Milan and hand Zidane his first defeat since taking charge of Les Bleus.

France were without Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele due to injury but Michael Olise pounced on a loose pass from Gianluigi Donnarumma to fire them ahead on 10 minutes.

Francesco Pio Esposito steered in Nicolo Cambiaghi’s pass to bring Italy level before France twice hit the post through Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki.

Sebastiano Esposito blazed a second-half penalty wide for Italy, but Roberto Mancini’s side did not rue that miss as Davide Frattesi powered home Federico Dimarco’s cut-back.

Francesco Pio Esposito then doubled his tally for the night, succeeding where his older brother had failed by converting a penalty after Dayot Upamecano fouled substitute Antonio Vergara.

Italy climbed above France at the top of Group A1 on head-to-head record. Both teams have 10 points going into the final round of games, with Belgium just one point adrift.

Belgium host Italy on Sunday and France are at home to Turkey.

Turkey slid to a fifth straight loss as they went down 2-1 to Belgium in Izmir.

Arda Guler’s magnificent free-kick put Turkey ahead under new coach and former midfielder Sergen Yalcin, but Belgium struck twice in quick succession with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Charles De Ketelaere to come away with victory.

Loading

Spread the love
Frank
Written By

Franklin Ugo Ndibe is a seasoned Nigerian journalist and media professional renowned for his incisive reporting and editorial leadership in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NCC
ad

You May Also Like

News

France captain Kylian Mbappe did not take part in team training on Wednesday and remained “under treatment” ahead of his country’s Nations League match...

World

Italy rejected 2,220 asylum applications from Nigerians in 2025, while another 4,120 cases remained unresolved at the end of the year. The figures were...

News

France’s high school students on Monday begin a new stage of their campaign for improved conditions, hoping to maintain the momentum with a fresh...

Sports

Tennis world number one Jannik Sinner has brought a premature end to his season due to a knee injury, the Italian announced on Tuesday....