France vs. Scotland: Score, Reaction from 2016 International Friendly
France cruised to a 3-0 win over Scotland on Saturday in their final international friendly before the start of UEFA Euro 2016, with Olivier Giroud bagging a brace.
Les Bleus took an early lead thanks to a delightful back-heeled goal from Giroud. The Arsenal man then doubled their advantage with a simple goal from close range toward the end of the half. Just before half-time, Laurent Koscielny added a third goal, all but ending Scotland's comeback bid.
Manager Didier Deschamps' troops had plenty of chances to add to their lead after the break, but the score remained unchanged. France's next match will be the Euro 2016 opener against Romania on Friday.
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As bet365 shared, France started without Antoine Griezmann, but with the exception of the Atletico Madrid man, Les Bleus fielded a starting XI likely to play the majority of minutes during Euro 2016:
From the opening whistle, the hosts took charge of the contest. Blaise Matuidi ran through the Scottish defence after just two minutes, but his effort failed to hit the target.
Paul Pogba created some space before launching a cross for Kingsley Coman, which Grant Hanley just about managed to clear.
The French pressure was relentless, and it took just eight minutes to yield results. Coman and Bacary Sagna combined to isolate the latter down the wing, and the Manchester City man fired a good cross toward Giroud, who flicked the ball with a backheel and past stopper David Marshall.
Sport Witness' Tom Coast doesn't think you can argue with the Arsenal man's form for the national team:
The early advantage was a nice bonus for France, who didn't take their foot off the pedal. Patrice Evra couldn't find a team-mate with his cross, but the ball was eventually worked back to him, and his shot could have been better.
Coman then glided past two opponents before putting Marshall to work, drawing a fine save with a low strike.
Pogba, Coman, Matuidi and Dimitri Payet dominated proceedings in midfield, and the visitors found it exceptionally difficult to work the ball into dangerous areas. And when Steven Fletcher thought he had finally breached the defence, the flag went up for offside.
Most of the action took place on the other side of the pitch, where Giroud should have timed his run a little better after another fine cross from Sagna. The Arsenal man more than made up for the error minutes later, however, doubling his tally from close range.
Payet made a fine run before blasting a shot on target, and while Marshall made the save, Giroud was there to fire home the rebound.
Bleacher Report UK's Jonathan Johnson thought the frequent criticisms Giroud is faced with at home may actually be a good thing:
The Scottish nightmare didn't end there. Pogba set up Matuidi with a ridiculous no-look pass, but the shot was blocked. The PSG man nearly scored his team's third goal shortly after, with Marshall blocking the ball out for a corner.
That corner fell to Evra, who headed the ball on to a wide-open Koscielny for the third goal.
Football writer Ross Dunbar couldn't help himself:
Evra was slow to get up after picking up a knock, a minor concern for France just before half-time, and Pogba fired up one more quick counter that came to nothing before the official blew his whistle.
At half-time, Bleacher Report put Giroud's performance in a different perspective:
To the despair of Scottish fans, Griezmann and Anthony Martial were introduced at half-time, replacing Payet and Coman. But Les Bleus seemed content with their three-goal lead and started the second half at a slower pace.
A lovely attack resulted in a corner, which Marshall clumsily spilled inside the box, but fortunately for the goalkeeper, he recovered the ball before Giroud had the chance to complete his hat-trick.
It took nearly 60 minutes for the first good chance to fall to Scotland, but Fletcher powered a header well wide under little defensive pressure. A series of corners resulted in a shooting chance for Martial, who aimed his effort at Marshall.
Pogba came close to adding a fourth goal, firing a free-kick off the post, with Andre-Pierre Gignac's rebound landing safely in Marshall's hands. Evra then launched a nice cross toward Martial, who couldn't turn his shot on goal.
Both managers opted to make a number of substitutions, which predictably sucked the tempo out of the match, although France remained dangerous. Pogba produced another lovely pass to play in Gignac, but Marshall was paying attention and got to the ball just in time.
The Juventus man was desperate for a goal, and he again went close with another free-kick, this time from further out. His dipping strike caught Marshall by surprise, but it landed on the roof of the goal.
Gignac missed the target with a volley with eight minutes left to play. Even more substitutions took the pace out of the match completely, with no incidents of note taking place until the final whistle.
France will host Romania in Euro 2016's opening match on Friday.
Post-Match Reaction
To follow...
