Full-time: FRA 4 AUS 1
Full Time
— eTVGhana (@etv_ghana) November 22, 2022
The reigning champs are up and running 🔥
France 🇫🇷 4- 1 Australia 🇦🇺#eSports #eTVGhana #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/ihMTz3q5mR
Australia can take comfort and credit from their first-half performances but France turned on the pace and style to fight back from 1-0 down to win 4-1 with terrific performances from Mbappe, Griezmann, Giroud and Dembele, excellent full-back play and the poise of world champions. No disgrace going down 4-1 to France but there were signs of vulnerability at the back that other teams might exploit.
90+7 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Danny Murphy has been calling for the referee to finish it for six minutes. ‘It’s done. The game’s dead.’
90+5 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Mooy is booked when blindsided by Theo Hernandez, who beats him to the ball. Mooy goes right through him.
90+3 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Coman tumbles on the 18-yard line and asks the question which is answered in the negative.
90+1 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Seven minutes of stoppage time have been indicated. Marathon matches. The added time in the first half was understandable because of the Lucas Hernandez injury. These seven second-half minutes are the result of the substitutions, nothing else.
90 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Fine save from Ryan to deny Konate’s forceful header from acorner.
88 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
No hat-trick for Giroud. Off he goes to be hugged by Didier Deschamps. Marcus Thuram takes his place … and Kounde comes on for Pavard.
89mins 🇫🇷🇦🇺
— eTVGhana (@etv_ghana) November 22, 2022
Final substitutions for France
Benjamin Pavard -out
Jules Kunde-In
Olivier Giroud -Out
Marcus Thuram-In#eSports #eTVGhana #Qatar2022
86 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Coman is sent down the right by Fofana’s pass. Griezmann splits to the near post but the Bayern winger goes for Mbappe at the back stick instead, mildly vexing Griezmann when it fails to get there and Ryan gobbles it up.
83 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
St Mirren’s Baccus and Degenek are sent on. Baccus, I am informed, is the first Buddie to play at a World Cup
81 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Mbappe is played in down the left of the box by Coman but instead of shooting he tries to tee up Giroud for the hat-trick and leaves the cross short.
From the second phase after Australia clear, Coman sprays a diagonal over the top of the back four. Mbappe beats the trap and then messes up the trap, squirting the ball with a too-heavy touch.
79 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Upamecano wins the ball on his own 18-yard line, jinks this way and that, glides up front and threatens to make his way through all the lines until Irvine trips him and goes into the referee’s book.
76 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Here’s Mbappe’s goal:
Tchouameni and Dembele are withdrawn. Coman and Youssouf Fofana take their places.
74 min: FRA 4 AUS 1
Double Australia substitution: Mabil and Kuol come on.
GOOAL!!!
France 4 Australia 1 (Giroud) AC Milan’s centre-forward becomes the joint record scorer. A moment of pure quality from Mbappe, encapsulating all his virtues – pace, grace, skill and dedication. He turns on the afterburners to race past Atkinson, makes it to the byline and whips over a cross that couldn’t have been any better. Giroud meets it, eight yards out, right of centre, and thumps his header unstoppanly past Ryan.
70 min
— eTVGhana (@etv_ghana) November 22, 2022
Mbaape assist Olivier Giroud to make it 4#eSports #eTVGhana #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/uUwVxShqGS
GOOOAL!
France 3 Australia 1 (Mbappe) Another raid down the left, this one by Mbappe, and he fizzes a cross through the six-yard box that only needed a touch. But Giroud wasn’t there. The ball flies over to Dembele on the other wing and he stands up a cross back into the middle, bisecting the narrow Souttar and Rowles. Mbappe sneaks in to glance his header in at the far post.
68 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Another wonderful France move down the left, Hernandez storms to the byline, pulls a pass back to Griezmann who shoots from 18yards, beat Ryan but Behich blocks it on the line.
67 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Tchouameni is caught by a late Rowles metatarsal-cracker … accidentally. The ref doesn’t give the foul but he clearly caught him with his studs on the top of the foot.
65 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
France take a quick free-kick after a foul on Tchouameni. He chips it diagonally to the left. Mbappe puts his pedal to the metal and races on to the ball, cocks his knee to shoot but Atkinson folds himself to block it.
63 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
France are starting to manipulate attacks down the left and right with quickfire passing but Australia are flooding their box, giving them no toom to breathe let alone shoot. Blocks, toes, nudges all thwart France.
61 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Great, last ditch tackle by Rowles after a lovely attempted one-two between Mbappe and Giroud, whose backheel flick threatened to put Mbappe in down the inside left inside the area. Rowles motored across to welly it out for a corner … that comes to nothing.
59 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Tchouameni gives Konate a piece of his mind after the Liverpool centre-half hoofs the ball out of play instead of playing an easy, short pass to feet.
57 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Leckie comes back to help Atkinson and head away Dembele’s deep cross before Mbappe could latch on to it.
55 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Jason Cummings, who has two Scotland caps, replaces Duke. A goal machine at Easter Road, he has struggled to be so prolific since in spells at Forest, Shrewsbury, Dundee and Central Coast Mariners.
53 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Australia enjoying a spell of possession until Duke’s first touch pushes the ball too far ahead of him and he tries to make amends with a two-footed lunge to retrieve it, hacking down Dembele in the process. Yellow card.
51 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Theo Hernandez gets to the byline twice in a minute, burning past Atkinson. His first daisycutter cross is angled back towards the 18-yard line where it is met by Tchouameni. The midfielder shoots towards the bottom corner and Rowles chucks himself in the way to block it.
Back comes Hernandez and this time stands a cross up to the right of the six-yard box. Giroud meets it with one of his bicycle kicks and volleys it wide of the right post. Lovely technique but it wasn’t as close as it originally looked.
49 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Australia call up the big dogs for the corner and promptly hit the near-post sentry, forcing them to scramble back.
48 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
Atkinson and Leckie combine down the right twice, first to work the ball in for Duke to slide in and try to steer a shot on goal but he can’t get it under Upamecano and they earn a corner when they go back for seconds.
46 min: FRA 2 AUS 1
No half-time changes and Australia kick-off, make some ground down the inside-left until Duke is penalised for a foul.
Half-time: FRA 2 AUS 1
Australia are playing well, exploited defensive mistakes but once France woke from their slumbers, they have been capable of devastating thrusts down the flanks. France look as dangerous as any side in the competition … but defensively they are vulnerable, especially to crosses.
