PLAYER RATINGS | Greece 2-2 France: Les Bleus held in Athens
After last week’s 14-0 drubbing of Gibraltar, Les Bleus faced a somewhat more demanding challenge as they travelled to Athens to round off their qualifying campaign.
The hosts were able to play out from the back relatively comfortably despite France’s high press, and posed a consistent attacking threat – Fotis Ioannidis’ rugged battle with William Saliba at the centre of it all. The midfield trio of Antoine Griezmann, Youssouf Fofana and Adrien Rabiot
For most of the first half, virtually every one of France’s chances were crafted by the omnipresent Griezmann. It was another veteran who would eventually set up the opener, though, as Youssouf Fofana found Olivier Giroud, before the Milan forward played Randal Kolo Muani through with a trademark first-time layoff. The Paris Saint-Germain man would chest the ball down, before emphatically finding the roof of the net from a tight angle. Nearly a year on from opening his account against Morocco in the World Cup semi-final, Kolo Muani finally had his second goal for France.
The constant pressure from the Greek forward line would pay off in the second half, as Lucas Hernandez saw a clearance charged down, and the hosts flooded forward. After several shots from range were blocked and sent back to the attackers, it was the captain Anastasios Bakasetas who would eventually finish off the move with a devastating volley into the bottom corner.
Les Bleus would concede again within minutes, as Giannoulis breezed past Jules Koundé down the left with a nutmeg before squaring it for Ioannidis to put the hosts in front with a close-range finish. Didier Deschamps had seen enough – with half an hour to go, Kylian Mbappé was introduced to the game, along with Jonathan Clauss and Kingsley
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