English:
France Overcomes Early Azerbaijan Goal to Dominate in Baku
Baku, Azerbaijan – In a match held at the Tofiq Bəhramov stadium, France defeated Azerbaijan in a group stage encounter of the European World Cup Qualifiers. Despite a promising start for the home side, who opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a goal by R. Dadashov assisted by R. Dashdamirov, France’s superiority soon became evident.
J. Mateta equalized for France in the 17th minute, assisted by M. Gusto. France continued to press and M. Akliouche put his team ahead in the 30th minute, once again linking up with Gusto for the assist. Goals by C. Nkunku and K. Thuram were disallowed by VAR due to handball, generating controversy.
An own goal by S. Mahammadaliyev in the 45th minute sealed the victory for France before halftime. In the second half, the pace of the game slowed considerably. Azerbaijan, with 25% ball possession, tried to create danger with only two shots, one of them on target. France, on the other hand, dominated the game with 75% possession and 17 shots, although only four of them were on target. The match was characterized by a high number of fouls, 9 by Azerbaijan and 12 by France, resulting in two yellow cards for Azerbaijani players A. Krivotsyuk and A. Khaybulaev.
Substitutions azerbaijan: at minute 46 S. Mahammadaliyev came in and A. Bayramov went out., at minute 46 C. Nuriyev came in and N. Akhundzade went out., at minute 66 E. Mahmudov came in and S. Abdullazada went out., at minute 75 R. Dadashov came in and A. Huseynov went out., at minute 87 K. Aliyev came in and M. Ahmadzada went out.
Substitutions france: at minute 62 C. Nkunku came in and R. Cherki went out., at minute 62 M. Akliouche came in and F. Thauvin went out., at minute 79 J. Mateta came in and B. Barcola went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Azerbaijan
Titulares:
France
Titulares:
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