Rabiot leads France past Italy to top of NL group
Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne combined perfectly to celebrate their 50th international caps to give France a 3-1 away win against Italy in the Nations League Group A2 decider as they finished top of the table on Sunday.
Rabiot grabbed a brace after being set up twice by Digne, whose screamer of a free kick was deflected into his own goal by Guglielmo Vicario while Italy scored through Andrea Cambiaso.
The result put France on 13 points at the end of the group phase, ahead of Italy on goal difference after the Azzurri had prevailed 3-1 at the Parc des Princes in September.
Israel claimed their only win in the group as they beat Belgium 1-0 in Budapest to finish level on points with the Red Devils, but last due to their worse head-to-head record.
“We had a young squad, I wanted to see a lot of players and winning here against an Italian team who were full of confidence is a great performance,” said coach Didier Deschamps.
Keeper Mike Maignan added: “We wanted to win, we were out for revenge. It was about pride after losing at home against them.”
After a lacklustre goalless draw against Israel at home on Thursday, Deschamps’s side showed their resilience in the absence of captain Kylian Mbappé, who was omitted from the squad.
France got off to a dream start when Rabiot netted his fifth international goal by smashing a header home after two minutes from Digne’s corner.
Italy upped the pace but Digne’s splendid left-footed 27-metre free kick bounced off the bar and onto Vicario’s back for France’s second in the 33rd.
Two minutes later, however, the Azzurri reduced the arrears after pressing hard, with Cambiaso finding the back of the net with a volley from Federico Dimarco‘s cutback.
Christopher Nkunku forced Vicario into a low save in the 59th minute as the visitors pressed for a third at a packed San Siro.
Digne and Rabiot were at it again as the fullback delivered a pinpoint free kick for the former Juventus midfielder to head home again and restore a two-goal lead.
Les Bleus then contained their opponents to ensure they will avoid Portugal, Germany and Spain in the last eight.
“It had been a long time since we had played such a game. Our goal was to win by two goals. The aggressiveness, the team spirit were great,” said Rabiot.
