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ARMENIA 0 FRANCE 3: GIGNAC ENDS GOAL DROUGHT FOR VISITORS
Sport Live, South Africa
Oct 14 2014
14 October 2014
Five years since the day of his last France goal, Andre-Pierre Gignac
found the net as Didier Deschamps' men beat Armenia 3-0 on Tuesday.
The Marseille striker, making his first international start since
France's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, scored from the penalty
spot in a comfortable friendly win in Yerevan for the Euro 2016 hosts.
France dictated proceedings for much of the encounter at the Vazgen
Sargsyan Republican Stadium and took the lead after just seven minutes
through Gignac's strike partner Loic Remy.
The hosts threatened sporadically, but Gignac made the game safe in
the 55th minute by repaying the faith shown in him by Deschamps, who
was part of France's team for their last meeting with Armenia in 1999.
Gignac displayed the composure that has seen him net nine Ligue 1 goals
for Marseille this term as he scored in a France shirt for the first
time since his strike in a 3-1 win over Austria on October 14, 2009.
Substitute Antoine Griezmann then put the gloss on a strong performance
from Deschamps' side, who continue to build towards their home
tournament in impressive fashion.
Armenia made a bright start but were soon undone as Remy converted
following an excellent France counter-attack.
The Chelsea man tapped home from the in-form Gignac's cross after
the Marseille forward had latched on to a superb ball over the top
from Jeremy Mathieu.
Undeterred by their early setback, Armenia responded strongly and
were denied an equaliser when attacking midfielder Artem Simonyan's
drive was well saved by Steve Mandanda.
France's goalkeeper then prevented Marcos Pizzelli from scoring a
fine individual goal, although the striker perhaps should have laid
the ball off with options to his right and left.
For all Armenia's endeavour, they were fortunate not to fall further
behind in the 20th minute. Remy struck Roman Berezovsky's left-hand
post after again combining with Gignac, who was thwarted by Berezovsky
nine minutes before the interval.
Paul Pogba was brought on for Blaise Matuidi after the break and his
introduction paid dividends as he won the penalty that put France in
complete control 10 minutes into the second half.
The Juventus midfielder jinked his way towards goal before being
felled by Kamo Hovhannisyan, allowing Gignac to step up and send
Berezovsky the wrong way with a confident spot-kick.
Deschamps' side refused to let up as they pushed for a third, Remy
firing narrowly wide following good work from Griezmann and Remy
Cabella, before Pogba also went close from a Mathieu Valbuena corner.
France capped off their performance seven minutes from time, Atletico
Madrid winger Griezmann springing an offside trap and rounding
Berezovsky to slot into an empty net.
http://live.sportlive.co.za/?sport=news&page=news&view=article&news_id=460293
Sport Live, South Africa
Oct 14 2014
14 October 2014
Five years since the day of his last France goal, Andre-Pierre Gignac
found the net as Didier Deschamps' men beat Armenia 3-0 on Tuesday.
The Marseille striker, making his first international start since
France's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, scored from the penalty
spot in a comfortable friendly win in Yerevan for the Euro 2016 hosts.
France dictated proceedings for much of the encounter at the Vazgen
Sargsyan Republican Stadium and took the lead after just seven minutes
through Gignac's strike partner Loic Remy.
The hosts threatened sporadically, but Gignac made the game safe in
the 55th minute by repaying the faith shown in him by Deschamps, who
was part of France's team for their last meeting with Armenia in 1999.
Gignac displayed the composure that has seen him net nine Ligue 1 goals
for Marseille this term as he scored in a France shirt for the first
time since his strike in a 3-1 win over Austria on October 14, 2009.
Substitute Antoine Griezmann then put the gloss on a strong performance
from Deschamps' side, who continue to build towards their home
tournament in impressive fashion.
Armenia made a bright start but were soon undone as Remy converted
following an excellent France counter-attack.
The Chelsea man tapped home from the in-form Gignac's cross after
the Marseille forward had latched on to a superb ball over the top
from Jeremy Mathieu.
Undeterred by their early setback, Armenia responded strongly and
were denied an equaliser when attacking midfielder Artem Simonyan's
drive was well saved by Steve Mandanda.
France's goalkeeper then prevented Marcos Pizzelli from scoring a
fine individual goal, although the striker perhaps should have laid
the ball off with options to his right and left.
For all Armenia's endeavour, they were fortunate not to fall further
behind in the 20th minute. Remy struck Roman Berezovsky's left-hand
post after again combining with Gignac, who was thwarted by Berezovsky
nine minutes before the interval.
Paul Pogba was brought on for Blaise Matuidi after the break and his
introduction paid dividends as he won the penalty that put France in
complete control 10 minutes into the second half.
The Juventus midfielder jinked his way towards goal before being
felled by Kamo Hovhannisyan, allowing Gignac to step up and send
Berezovsky the wrong way with a confident spot-kick.
Deschamps' side refused to let up as they pushed for a third, Remy
firing narrowly wide following good work from Griezmann and Remy
Cabella, before Pogba also went close from a Mathieu Valbuena corner.
France capped off their performance seven minutes from time, Atletico
Madrid winger Griezmann springing an offside trap and rounding
Berezovsky to slot into an empty net.
http://live.sportlive.co.za/?sport=news&page=news&view=article&news_id=460293