France vs Italy 1-3: UEFA Nations League football Group A2 – as it happened

Group A2 reaches climax

France and Italy were in action in Group A2 of the UEFA Nations League. Both nations fought to the end, but it was Italy taking the deserved win with a 1-3 away victory. The reigning European champions produced a real captain’s performance and took home three vital points against the world champions.

Italy now lead the standings with eight points, while France are four points behind in third. Both teams have one game left to play in the group, with France travelling to Croatia on Monday and Italy hosting Austria on the same day.

Match highlights

Italy took the lead shortly before the interval. Giacomo Raspadori released the ball for Wilfried Gnonto after a lovely give-and-go. The forward took a touch before slotting the ball past Mike Maignan. The visitors had been the better team throughout the first period and fully deserved their lead.

Italy survived an early scare in the second period as Aurelien Tchouameni’s shot hit the woodwork. However, Nicolo Barella doubled their lead shortly after. The Inter Milan forward finished off a fine team move to give them a 0-2 lead for the away side.

France pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to go when Kylian Mbappe finished off a cross from Theo Hernandez. However, Italy restored their two-goal advantage three minutes later through Raspadori. The Sassuolo forward finished off a counter-attack to make it 1-3 and confirm victory.

Italy’s impressive display

Italy were impressive throughout the match. They dominated possession and created the better chances. They also defended resolutely and made it difficult for France to create clear-cut opportunities.

Their victory was a thoroughly deserved one and they will be confident of topping the group when they face Austria on Monday. A win for either side will see them progress to the Finals of the Nations League.

France’s disappointing performance

France were disappointing throughout the match. They were second best to Italy in every department and never really looked like getting back into the game after going 2-0 down.

Their defeat leaves them with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the Finals of the Nations League. They will need to beat Croatia on Monday and hope that Italy slip up against Austria.