–
Five months after correcting Ukraine (7-1), the Blues this time had all the trouble in the world to get rid of Sbirna, at the Stade de France. However, immediately in the right tone, the Blues first suffocated the training of Andriy Chevtchenko. And, after ten minutes, Olivier Giroud was logically offered a huge opportunity (11th). Missed. But, what success took away from the Chelsea striker, the absence of VAR and the talent of Antoine Griezmann returned him to the Blues shortly after. The FC Barcelona striker, found at the right angle of the Ukrainian area, rolled up an unstoppable shot from the left, which went to lob Georgi Bushchan to the opposite (1-0, 19th). Small flat anyway, Pavard was in an offside position on his header, but in the absence of VAR tonight, that did not change the case. Giroud then posed a last danger (32nd), before a false rhythm sets in at the end of the first act. France was then much higher, but the gap on the scoreboard not yet clear.
So when they returned from the locker room, the Habs, still in slow motion, were quickly surprised. Oleksandr Karavaev appeared on the right side, taking the upper hand on a very tender Kylian Mbappé, then centered in the box on Sergiy Sydorchuk who, on his rebise, saw poor Presnel Kimpembe deflect the leather in his own goal (1-1, 57e). Cooled down, Didier Deschamps’ men lacked lucidity and fluidity in the wake to come back. The match got stuck, and the Blues are therefore launching their qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup with a hitch (1-1), before going to challenge Kazakhstan at the Astana Arena on Sunday, then Bosnia at Sarajevo in a week. The French team are fourth in Group D, with a small point, tied with Bosnia Herzegovina, Finland and therefore Ukraine.
–
–
