France hosted Belgium this Monday evening at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, for the 4th day of the Nations League. Leaders of group 1 with 7 points before kick-off, Zinédine Zidane’s Blues were able to consolidate their first place after their success in Brussels the previous week (1-0), while the Red Devils, second with 6 points, hoped to end their series of six consecutive defeats against the Tricolores. For this match refereed by the Scotsman Nicholas Walsh, Zidane aligned a 4-3-3 with Guillaume Restes in goal, a unique hinge composed of Maxence Lacroix and Leny Yoro, as well as Estéban Lepaul at the forefront alongside Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola. Opposite, Mark van Bommel also opted for a 4-3-3 with Koen Casteels replaced by Maarten Vandevoordt in goal and Romelu Lukaku at the forefront of the attack. The Blues quickly took control of operations with strong possession and several situations in the Belgian area.
From the first minute, Ousmane Dembélé missed his shot after crossing into the middle, before the Tricolores increased their attacks with Barcola, Akliouche and Lepaul. Vandevoordt notably intervened in front of Barcola (16th), while Lepaul narrowly missed the recovery on a cross from Diouf before seeing his pivotal shot being captured by the Belgian goalkeeper (23rd). Despite 67% possession and seven shots after 25 minutes, France lacked precision in the last move and were finally surprised. On a magnificent pass from Roméo Lavia behind the defense, Dodi Lukebakio appeared alone against Restes and opened the scoring with a left shot into the top corner (35th, 0-1). The Blues continued to push without managing to equalize before the break, while Belgium, very realistic, returned to the locker room with this one-goal advantage.
Zizou’s changes changed everything
Upon returning from the locker room, the French immediately settled in the Belgian camp, but still struggled to find the fault in a well grouped block. Dembélé notably missed an opportunity in the area (53rd), before Vandevoordt made another decisive save in front of Lepaul (59th). Faced with his team’s difficulties, Zidane then decided to renew his offensive animation with a triple change at the hour mark, bringing in Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki and Lucas Da Cunha in place of Dembélé, Akliouche and Manu Koné. The entrants quickly brought more danger. Olise stood out with a shot captured by Vandevoordt (63rd), before Cherki set the Belgian defense on fire with several initiatives. The Manchester City player was very close to equalizing with a curling shot from the right repelled by Vandevoordt (67th), then found Olise in the area a few moments later.
The French pressure finally paid off in the last quarter of an hour. Désiré Doué, who entered the game, equalized with a low cross from the left after turning around in front of the surface on a serve from Da Cunha (77th, 1-0), thus scoring his fourth goal with the Blues for his 19th selection. Carried by a Stade de France in turmoil, France continued to push and finally took the advantage four minutes later. Olise hit the left side before serving behind Rayan Cherki, who appeared at the near post to take over from the left. The ball was touched by the foot then the arm of Vandevoordt before ending up in the back of the net (81st, 2-1). And the lightning didn’t stop there since Olise took advantage of a magnificent movement with Doué in small spaces to score his goal (88th, 3-1). A few seconds later, the Parisian again admirably found the Bayern attacker for a fourth goal (90th, 4-1). In less than 15 minutes, the Blues played against Velgique, holding a precious success which validates a spectacular turnaround after having been behind for almost an hour. A great way to end Zinédine Zidane’s first break at the helm of the Blues.
