Laurent Blanc led France to a deserved win against Albania on Friday night at the Stade de France.
News about Bosnia & Herzegovina’s trouncing of Luxembourg put Les Bleus under pressure early on. Thankfully for the home crowd, the French responded quite well to their demands.
The inclusion of Gomis, Patrice Evra, Florent Malouda and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri in Laurent Blanc’s lineup increased France’s chances of beating the Albanians who eventually were second-best throughout the match.
Cabaye was unlucky enough to see his 25-yard strike fly just wide. It was Florent Malouda who broke the deadlock. He opened the scoring with a deflected shot of which the cross came through the efforts of Remy.
France piled up the pressure on the visitors with good moves in attack and Loïc Remy soon found the net from a difficult angle to make justice to Nasri’s hard work in the buildup. Les Bleus went into the dressing room at half-time with a 2-0 advantage.
Albania never seemed to get back into the game and Anthony Reveillere emulated Remy’s feat to close the score line. The final 20 minutes of the match was about running down the clock. Djibril Cissé, who came off the bench to replace Bafetimbi Gomis, almost made it four in injury time.
Thanks to their 3-0 victory at home to Albania, France maintain their leadership at the top of Group D. Tuesday’s France vs Bosnia and Herzegovina clash will therefore separate the section’s winners from the runners-up.
The inclusion of Gomis, Patrice Evra, Florent Malouda and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri in Laurent Blanc’s lineup increased France’s chances of beating the Albanians who eventually were second-best throughout the match.
Cabaye was unlucky enough to see his 25-yard strike fly just wide. It was Florent Malouda who broke the deadlock. He opened the scoring with a deflected shot of which the cross came through the efforts of Remy.
France piled up the pressure on the visitors with good moves in attack and Loïc Remy soon found the net from a difficult angle to make justice to Nasri’s hard work in the buildup. Les Bleus went into the dressing room at half-time with a 2-0 advantage.
Albania never seemed to get back into the game and Anthony Reveillere emulated Remy’s feat to close the score line. The final 20 minutes of the match was about running down the clock. Djibril Cissé, who came off the bench to replace Bafetimbi Gomis, almost made it four in injury time.
Thanks to their 3-0 victory at home to Albania, France maintain their leadership at the top of Group D. Tuesday’s France vs Bosnia and Herzegovina clash will therefore separate the section’s winners from the runners-up.
