Goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann won France a place in the semi-final ahead of Uruguay. Uruguay goalkeeper, Fernando Muslera was culpable for the second goal as he parried Griezmann’s swerving shot into his net. Varane rose highest to hand France the opener in 39th minute from Griezmann’s free kick. Didier Deschamp’s charges will meet the winner between Brazil or Belgium next week Tuesday.
Two soft goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann
90+4 min: Uruguay lay siege to the France penalty area, but are unable to create a goalscoring opportunity.
88 min: Uruguay Jose Gimenez already crying for the defeat.
88 min: Griezmann plays the Free-kick for France but too wide.
88 min: France substitution: Kylian Mbappe off, Ousmane Dembele on.
82 min: Uruguay attack down the right flank, with Urretaviscaya trying to get in behind Lucas Hernandez but no result!
80 mins: 10 minutes for Uruguay find a way through. Meanwhile, they have not have a shot on-target in this second half
79 min: France substitution: Steven Nzonzi on, Corentin Tolisso off.
75 min: Olivier Giroud curls a shot well wide of the far post from the edge of the area.
74 min: Uruguay substitution: Jonathan Urretaviscaya comes in for Nahitan Nadez
73 min: Tolisso finds a space but fails to find the target with a shot from outside the box
70 min: Ball possession: Uruguay: 43%, France: 57%.
67 min: Rodriguez and Mbappe just got booked. The play is stopped. The players are pushing and shouting at each-other, the referee should take action.
min: It wasn’t a particularly fierce shot and should have been a very straightforward save but it is a second goal for France
63 min: Goal scorer, Antoine Griezmann stands still to celebrate his goal. Although that’s woeful from attempt by Muslera.
62 min: France double their lead courtesy of a howler from Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal.
another goal for FRANCE!
57 min: Maxi Gomez comes in for Cristhian Stuani.
56 min: Uruguay are trying to find their way into this match. Rodrigo could not have a perfect play on the edge of the France penalty area. He tries a shot but it’s hopelessly wide off the target.
49 min: France is dominating the game. Griezmann putting more threats.
47 min: Another free kick from the side put was too easy for Muslera.
46 min: And the second half is underway
Half-time read? We got you covered.
https://guardian.ng/sport/expert-predictions-who-goes-through-to-the-semi-finals/
HALF TIME: Uruguay 0-1 France. Varane’s header the difference in Nizhny Novgorod.
45 min: There will be two minutes of additional time as Umtiti fouls Suarez. The free kick is swung in but France defends their goal astutely.
44 min: SAVE!!! Lloris at full-stretch gets a hand to Caeceres’ header from Torreira’s free kick. That was very close to the equalizer by Uruguay.
Varane raced towards the ball to head it in ahead of Stuani. Even bigger task now for Uruguay to try to claw their way back. Uruguay 0-1 France
40 min: The free-kick is played in by Griezmann and Varane heads it in. GOOOOALLLL!!!!
38 min: Bentancur is shown a yellow card after a poor challenge on Tolisso.
34 min: Mbappe races onto a pass on the wing and plays in a cross, but there was no one in the box to connect to the cross.
26 min: Laxalt stops Mbappe from getting into the box and concedes a corner. The corner is played short but the following cross isn’t impressive.
18 min: France try to string play together with neat passes, however Pogba disappointingly hits a wayward shot from outside the area.
15 min: Mbappe with a great chance but he misses, unable to keep down his header after Giroud set him up with a headed pass
14 min: Lloris comes off his line quickly to punch a header from a corner kick with Stuani trying to get to the ball.
11 min: Hernandez gets on the receiving end of Nandez’s challenge and he wins a free kick for france. Griezmann whips in the free kick to the far post but Varane couldn’t get enough direction on the cross as he heads wide.
5 min: Stuani with a chance as he shoots across the face of goal from an acute angle. Caceres does brilliantly to keep the ball in lay before winning a throw in. Uruguay really up for this. The game is already looking better than the stereotypical France attack vs Uruguay defence
And we are underway!
Does pulling Laxalt’s braid qualify as a life goal? I’d really really like to pull his braids. Away from life goals, Cavani definitely will be missed by Uruguay but Stuani will start in his place.
And now the National Anthems!
The winner of this tie will play the winner in the second quarter final game between Brazil and Belgium
Uruguay vs France lineup
Uruguay: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur, Suarez, Stuani.
Subs: Campana, Varela, Sanchez, Rodriguez, De Arrascaeta, Gaston Silva, Maxi Pereira, Gomez, Coates, Urreta, Martin Silva.
France: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Lucas, Pogba, Kante, Mbappe-Lottin, Griezmann, Tolisso, Giroud.
Subs: Mandanda, Kimpembe, Lemar, Dembele, Nzonzi, Rami, Fekir, Sidibe, Thauvin, Mendy, Areola.
Referee: Nestor Pitana (Argentina)
Welcome to the live commentary of the first quarter-final match of this enthralling tournament.
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