France left it late to beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League as Zinedine Zidane got his first home win as the national coach on Monday.
asserted
Zidane → leave → Monday
That reinforced France’s control of Group A1, three points above Italy, which beat Turkey 3-1.
asserted
which → reinforce → Turkey
Third-placed Belgium slipped four points below France.
asserted
Belgium → place → France
Turkey has no points.
asserted
Turkey → have → points
Zidane started his time in charge of Les Bleus with wins over Turkey and Belgium before being held to a draw by Italy on his home debut on Friday.
asserted
Zidane → start → Friday
France was trailing until the 77th minute on Monday before goals from substitutes Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki and Michael Olise (two).
asserted
France → trail → substitutes
“The first half was tough; facing a low block is always difficul,” Olise said.
asserted
Olise → face → block
“But we kept going and at the end it was good.
asserted
it → keep → end
“It’s a collective effort, too.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
He (Zidane) brings in ideas, we follow them — we’ve done that well over the last four matches, we’re going to continue like this.”
asserted
we → bring → this
France was still to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
asserted
France → book → quarterfinals
It would have been assured of one of the top two places in the group if it beat Belgium and Italy failed to beat Turkey.
asserted
Italy → assure → Turkey
Olise at the double
At the Stade de France, Belgium took the lead in the 35th minute.
asserted
Belgium → take → minute
Dodi Lukébakio sprung the offside trap to run onto a magnificent, long pass from Roméo Lavia, raced through one-on-one with debutant Guillaume Restes and powered it over the France goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
asserted
Lukébakio → spring → net
Doué finally pulled one back for France in the 77th with a low shot into the bottom right corner, and Les Bleus got the match winner in somewhat strange fashion four minutes later.
asserted
Bleus → pull → fashion
Maarten Vandevoordt appeared set to save Cherki’s strike but the ball hit the Belgium goalie’s foot and rebounded in off his left arm.
asserted
ball → appear → arm
Olise set that up and added two goals in three minutes himself to seal the match.
asserted
Olise → set → match
First home win of Mancini’s return
In Italy, Roberto Mancini was also looking for a first home win.
asserted
Mancini → look → win
He started his return to the Italy bench with a loss in Rome to Belgium before morale-boosting away performances against Turkey — where the Azzurri won 4-1 — and France.
asserted
Azzurri → start → Turkey
Turkey was under pressure after scoring just one goal and conceding eight in its three matches.
asserted
Turkey → score → matches
It was also missing key players but nevertheless started the brighter in Bologna.
asserted
It → miss → Bologna
However, Italy took the lead against the run of play in the 26th.
asserted
Italy → take → 26th
Gianluca Scamacca attempted to knock down a cross and it bounced off a Turkey defender’s shoulder before falling kindly back to Scamacca, who volleyed it in off the underside of the crossbar.
asserted
who → attempt → crossbar
Aral Şimşir swept in a deserved equalizer for Turkey in the 61st but Italy was back in front just three minutes later when Riccardo Calafiori headed in Nicolò Barella’s free kick.
asserted
Calafiori → sweep → kick
Pio Esposito sealed the win late on when he tapped in Alessandro Romano’s shot.
asserted
he → seal → shot
Esposito became only the second Italy player to score seven international goals before his 21st birthday.
asserted
Esposito → become → birthday
Gyökeres scores again
Victor Gyökeres extended his record Nations League scoring streak to seven games to fire Sweden to a 1-0 win in Romania.
asserted
Gyökeres → score → Romania
It was a fourth of the campaign for Gyökeres, who broke the record on Friday.
asserted
who → break → Friday
Sweden tops Group B4 and is two points above Bosnia-Herzegovina, which beat Poland 1-0.
asserted
which → top → Poland
Northern Ireland remained on top of Group B2, despite being held to 0-0 by Georgia.
asserted
Ireland → remain → Georgia
Hungary won against Ukraine 2-1 and was second.
asserted
Hungary → win → Ukraine
The Aporia
.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75)
