Mbappe is a hero and a villain for the national team. This time France was lucky
In the moment with a goal, the Austrians could not stop Kilian even with four of them. Greatness!
League of Nations in touch. In the 5th round, France and Austria met. The first had to rectify the catastrophic situation, the second – to gain a foothold in a comfortable place. The favorite won, but do not rush to say that it is boring. Plots in the match enough.
The match started with a goal from France. Kylian Mbappe put in a signature goal in the top nine, but the ball was canceled due to offside. The picture of the game in the future was expected: possession was for the French, and the Austrians practically did not hit on goal. The life of the guests was also complicated by the pressure of the world champions – as soon as the opponent approached the center of the field, the French team players attacked and often took the ball away.
France have obvious injury problems this season of the Nations League, and new ones have been added in this match. In the middle of the first half, instead of Jules Kunde, William Salib had to be released.
France – Austria – 2: 0
Photo: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
The French could well open an account in the 35th minute, when they created a fantastic moment. Aurélien Tchuameni shot through himself, the goalkeeper turned the ball into the crossbar, and Antoine Griezmann was already finishing off from a couple of meters, but even here the goalkeeper was in place.
In the last seconds of the half, Mbappe aggravated again – he jumped out from the corner of the penalty area, circled the goalkeeper and shot under the blow, but Yussuf Fofana missed the ball. And during the break, France had another replacement, and the most unexpected. At the gate instead of Mick Meignan settled Alphonse Areola.
In fairness, Austria still created chances. At the beginning of the second half, there was even a segment when the guests took the ball to their feet. But it all ended with a missed goal. Marcel Sabitzer cut off in the center of the field, Olivier Giroud gave to Mbappe, and he left the four and scored. World-class!
The punch from France ended up being a double. Already nine minutes later, Griezmann filed with the right, and Giroud closed his head and became the oldest scorer in the history of his team (35 years and 357 days). 2:0 – and for the Austrians it was, in fact, a knockout.
The French felt quite comfortable in the game even up to the goals, and then they began to break away. Mbappe even allowed himself to screw up a one-on-one exit when he circled the goalkeeper and missed the ball behind the front. True, as a result, Kilian’s conscience is clear – he was offside. And the ending was calm. Two goals turned out to be too serious a blow for the Austrians.
It’s hard to even digest the fact that before this match, France was in last place in the group. Now everything is more or less falling into place. The French climbed to third place, while the Austrians fell down and in the last round they will fight for the right to stay in League A.
And how interesting it turns out: Mbappe for the national team is both a hero and a villain. In the first essence, he drags and brings victories, and in the second, his obsession with statistics harms the team. Today, France was lucky – there was a Mbappe-hero on the field.
