Ireland 0-1 France
France also won its second European Championship qualifying match on Monday evening. On a visit to Ireland, Benjamin Pavard made the difference with a beautiful shot, so that the team of national coach Didier Deschamps takes the lead in Group B after two matches.
France punishes Ireland’s rare mistake with a wonderful goal by Pavard
France already scored twice against the Dutch within seven minutes last Friday, it certainly wasn’t that easy in the Aviva Stadium. Ireland defended and did not give away any really great chances against the vice world champions. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu hardly had anything to do in the first half. Antoine Griezmann provided one of the few dangerous moments with a header into the side netting.
After the break, Ireland threw in its own glasses in a similar way to the Netherlands in the Stade de France. Just as a French attack seemed to fail, Pavard intercepted Josh Cullen’s weak wide pass. Bayern Munich’s right back skillfully punished the Irish ball loss for their own sixteen with a nice shot via the bottom of the crossbar.
Ireland did try to reciprocate, but rarely embarrassed French goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Premier League revelation Evan Ferguson was not involved against Ibrahima Konaté and Dayot Upamecano and was substituted after 65 minutes. It was thanks to Bazunu that France did not get any further with shots from substitute Moussa Diaby and Adrien Rabiot.
In the final phase, Ireland was very close to the equalizer, but Maignan prevented it with a sublime save. As a result, Les Bleus have six points after two matches and they are leading, knowing that Greece will be the third opponent in June. Ireland therefore affects the Greeks, just like Gibraltar. The Netherlands will then not take action because of the Final Four of the Nations League.
Sweden 5-0 Azerbaijan
In Group F, Sweden had an easy evening against Azerbaijan. Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Scandinavians convincingly dealt with Azerbaijan. Before the break, only Emil Forsberg scored. But in the second half, after an own goal by Bahlul Mustafazada, things went fast in the final phase. Striker Viktor Gyökeres, AZ striker Jesper Karlsson and Anthony Elanga further increased the score.
