Author: Amrit Santlani
England and France picked up crucial victories to end the season on a high, as both teams continued their progress in Eurocup qualifying.
England hosted North Macedonia in the final round of European Championship qualifying, looking to continue their progress towards next year’s competition on Sunday. England welcomed their opponents to Old Trafford and it proved to be a great encounter as Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick helped Gareth Southgate’s side to an incredible 7-0 home win.
After testing Stole Dimitrievski early on, England opened the scoring in the 29th minute when captain Harry Kane hit a point-blank shot from Luke Shaw’s cross. Bukayo Saka then scored with an emphatic finish from a tight angle, converting Kyle Walker’s cross.
Dimitrievski pulled off a sublime save to deny Marcus Rashford from close range, although the youngster scored on a simple handball shortly afterwards after questionable defending from the Macedonians in the north.
In the second half, the floodgates opened and the situation only got worse for the visitors. After scoring a goal at the back post, Saka also hit the post well after the restart, taking advantage of a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Just five minutes into the second half, Saka completed his hat-trick, but England weren’t finished yet. After some slack defending, Kalvin Philips picked up a rebound and, duly placed in the empty net, scored the sixth goal.
John Stones was impeded in the box, the referee gave England a penalty and Kane completed his brace by scoring to make it 7-0.
“After the World Cup, we’ve reached a sweet spot where there’s a hunger to go further than we have and a desire to push on,” Southgate said in his post-match press conference.
“There’s confidence in the great nights we’ve been involved in. It’s a good place, but we have to keep working hard” he added.
Kylian Mbappe’s penalty helps France beat stubborn Greece 1-0
France welcomed Greece to the Stade de France looking to end an impressive season, and it was Les Bleus who came out on top 1-0. Both teams had won their previous games in the Group B qualifier, but Didier Deschamps’ side proved too strong for their opponents.
France captain Kylian Mbappe led his team from the start with a quick run down the left that almost found a teammate, but Greece committed a foul that spared their honor when Kostos Tsimikas went down.
Anastasios Bakasetas tested Mike Maignan from long range, but his shot lacked power and conviction. Mbappe had a well-taken penalty turned down after dribbling past several Greek defenders and falling to the ground, but the referee wasn’t convinced.
Odysseas Vlachodimos made an incredible save from Jules Kounde’s shot to keep his side in the contest just before half-time. After the restart, all the visitors’ good work was undone after a wild shot from Konstantinos Mavropanos at Antoine Griezmann.
The Frenchman lay bloodied on the ground as Mbappe stepped up to take the penalty, which was saved by Vlachodimos, but the referee asked for it to be retaken and, on the second bite of the cherry, Kylian opened the scoring.
Petros Mantalos hit a powerful shot from outside the area, but Maignan was on hand to keep the goal intact.
Mavropanos got in the way of Kolo Muani at the end of the game and, with a yellow card, was sent off; Griezmann sent the resulting free-kick over the bar. France also scored a second goal on an impressive counter-attack, but Mbappe’s cut-back was too strong for Ousmane Dembele.