Didier Deschamps' second match (first competitive) in charge of France was a success, albeity and underwhelming one, as Les Blues defeated Finland x-x at the Olmypic Stadium in Helsinki.
Finland Vs. France, 2014 World Cup Qualifying: Final Score, France Fails to Impress in 1-0 Win
It was Finland who had the best early chance when Kasper Hamalainen broke in behind the French defense. Hamalainen seemed a little surprised to have so much space and an extra touch allowed Mapou Yangambiwa to recover and pull off a fantastic challenge to break up the play. If Yangambiwa had been even slightly off with the tackle, it would have been a red card and penalty for Finland.
From there France took total control of the match and opened the scoring in the 20th minute thanks to a great finish from Abou Diaby. He was setup by a fantastic run through the midfield and final pass from Karim Benzema that sliced the Finnish defense apart. The goal was Diaby's first career international strike.
After that, 70 minutes of uninspiring soccer. France was never really threatened again by Finland but they weren’t exactly looking dangerous either. I guess the positive takeaway is that it’s three points in the bag from an away qualifying match, but France hardly looked impressive.
Deschamps clearly has some work to do.
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