Author: Amrit Santlani
Benjamin Pavard scored twice, while Kylian Mbappe and Kingsley Coman also netted in France’s 4-1 win over Scotland at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Tuesday.
The French have already qualified for next year’s European Championship, and Didier Deschamps’ team welcomed Steve Clarke and company to Lille. Clarke made several changes to his team after the 0-2 defeat to Spain. The Scottish team, against all odds, took the lead with an emphatic goal from Billy Gilmour 11 minutes after the start of the match.
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Eduardo Camavinga mistakenly passed the ball to Gilmour, but the young Scot didn’t hesitate before finishing first-time to score his first senior goal.
The French trailed for just four minutes and came back to equalize with a fierce header from Pavard, which hit Antoine Griezmann’s corner. Ten minutes later, the 2018 World Cup winners and runners-up in Qatar took the lead when Kylian Mbappe’s cross was buried by Pavard. It was a striker’s finish, with a diving header to beat Liam Kelly.
Deschamps’ men could have made it 3-1 in the 30th minute, but Ousmane Dembele shot over the goal after being cleverly picked out by Aurelien Tchouameni.
The third goal came when Olivier Giroud was brought down by Liam Cooper in the box, the VAR awarded France the penalty and Mbappe stepped up to score from 12 meters and end the contest before half-time.
The French imposed their authority on the game even more when Mbappe released Marcus Thuram, whose cross was met by Griezmann, but his shot hit the post. The rebound fell kindly into the hands of Coman, who shot into the top corner to score his first international goal in three years.