Michael Olise scored a sensational late solo goal to give France a 1-0 win away against Belgium in the UEFA Nations League also maintaining a perfect start for new head coach Zinedine Zidane.
Coming off the bench in the 77th minute the Bayern Munich winger gathered the ball inside his own half in the 88th minute with drove past the Belgian defense and curled a precise finish into the bottom corner. The victory marks Zidane’s second straight win since succeeding Didier Deschamps following a 1-0 win against Turkey last week.
France top Group A1 with six points despite playing without captain Kylian Mbappe who returned to Real Madrid after sustaining a knee injury against Turkey. Zidane made nine changes to his starting lineup at Brussels' King Baudouin Stadium with handing debuts to players including Lucas Da Cunha and Esteban Lepaul.
Les Bleus dominated much of the contest with Desire Doue and Da Cunha both striking the woodwork before Olise provided the breakthrough. Belgium created opportunities of their own but could not find a way past the French defense with leaving new coach Mark van Bommel empty-handed in his first home match.
Elsewhere in Group A1, Italy bounced back from an opening loss to beat Turkey 4-1 in Bursa. Goals from Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frattesi, debutant Michael Kayode and Pio Esposito secured a comfortable win for Roberto Mancini’s side. Italy now sit tied on three points with Belgium ahead of their upcoming clash against leaders France at the Stade de France.
In League B action, Sweden maintained their strong form with a 3-1 win over Poland while Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Romania 4-2. Both Group B2 fixtures ended in 0-0 draws between Northern Ireland and Hungary as well as Georgia and Ukraine.
