UEFA Nations League
Result: France 2-1 Netherlands
Date: 09 September 2018
Venue: Stade de France
World champions France claimed their first UEFA Nations League victory after defeating Netherlands 2-1 at the Stade de France.
Despite dropping points against Germany, France coach Didier Deschamps named an unchanged line up for the encounter. The game got off to a lively start, but it was France who got the opening goal as Blaise Matuidi latched onto a poor clearance before picking out Kylian Mbappe, who slotted into an empty net. The hosts were in control for most of the first half, and were particularly threatening on set-pieces, with Samuel Umtiti and Mbappe going close on a couple occasions with headers. That proved to be the trend for the rest of the half as the Dutch struggled to mount any serious attempts at Alphonse Areola's goal throughout the stanza. The Dutch came out livelier in the second half and they eventually leveled matters in the 66th minute when Tete picked out Ryan Babel, who side-footed home from close range. With 15 minutes remaining, Les Blues restored their advantage as Benjamin Mendy picked out Olivier Giroud, who found the back of the net with a superb volley. The hosts threw on Steven N'Zonzi for Antoine Griezmann in the closing stages as Deschamps looked to see out the remaining stages of the tie. The hosts did manage to see hold on for three points, as the French move top of the group, three points ahead of Germany and four ahead of the Dutch. Other results: League B Ukraine 1-0 Slovakia Denmark 2-0 Wales League C Bulgaria 1-0 Norway Cyprus 2-1 Slovenia League D Georgia 1-0 Latvia Macedonia 2-0 Armenia
