France were more defensively solid after the break and Didier Deschamps’ men sealed their win as Muani got on the end of Lucas Digne’s cro...
France were more defensively solid after the break and Didier Deschamps’ men sealed their win as Muani got on the end of Lucas Digne’s cross to head past Koen Casteels.
However, Saliba received widespread criticism from the French media after the game, with the AFP’s Emmanuel Barranguet stating that the Arsenal defender had ‘played his worst match in Blue’.
Barranguet added: ‘He [Saliba] was better in the second half, but he was no longer the sovereign defender who had won his starting place at the Euros, at the expense of Ibrahima Konate.
L’Equipe described Saliba’s performance as ‘particularly awkward’.
Both Sud Ouest and Le Figaro rated Saliba’s performance a measly 3/10, while Eurosport France said it was a ‘painful evening for the Arsenal defender’.
Speaking after France’s win, Deschamps admitted that France’s defensive errors whilst in possession were a concern from the opening 45 minutes.
‘We were shaken up for 20-25 minutes where they put a lot of intensity while we made a lot of technical errors when we recovered the ball,’ Deschamps said.
‘When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us. It’s good for us that they missed a penalty even if we shouldn’t concede this goal where we line up high.’
‘We were on tiptoe. We had fewer ball losses after but we wanted to drive the ball instead of making a simple pass. We did well in the first period.’
Asked what he told his France players after their poor first half, Deschamps said: ‘We had to shake them up without shaking everyone. In relation to what we said, and what the players had said.
‘But it was mainly the mistakes, we had to calm down.
‘We had to go forward and press hard. Of course they had chances but so did we in the second half. We are perhaps happy to win this match, perhaps by force and with ten men. We did better even if it was not difficult in the second half.
‘It’s a young team that doesn’t have much experience. There was seriousness and enthusiasm in this gathering. It’s better to win this kind of match. In the group we leave them with four points and that’s good.’
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