Mesmerising Kylian Mbappe led France’s rout of Iceland in Euro 2020 qualifiers on Monday night, but Cristiano Ronaldo hobbled off in Portugal’s disappointing draw with Serbia and racist abuse overshadowed five-star England in Montenegro.
Mbappe scored one and set up two more as the reigning world champions crushed Iceland 4-0 at the Stade de France to move top of Group H in Euro 2020 qualifying. The result gives France, 4-1 winners over Moldova in their Euro opener, six points from their first two matches and puts them ahead of Turkey, who also won 4-0 on Monday, on goal difference.
Samuel Umititi, Olivier Giroud, Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann all scored as Iceland struggled to cope with a totally dominant France side. Giroud’s 35th France goal moved him into third on the all-time list of French scorers, the Chelsea striker now trailing only Michel Platini (41) and Thierry Henry (51).
“It was our objective to take six points but the manner was good as well,” France manager Didier Deschamps said.
Deschamps praised his team’s “offensive efficiency” against a “dense” Icelandic defence. “When the opponent plays very defensively it can be very difficult to find a way through so that was a good sign,” said Deschamps, although he acknowledged that Icelandic fatigue near the end played a role.
He added that he was pleased that all three strikers – Mbappe, Griezmann and Oivier Giroud – scored. “They are the champions of the world and you saw that today,” acknowledged Iceland manager Erik Hamren. “Five shots on goal and they scored four. That’s top class”
In Group A, England, fresh from a 5-0 demolition of the Czech Republic in which Raheem Sterling hit a hat-trick, were forced to come from behind in a 5-1 win over Montenegro. But another impressive victory for the Three Lions was overshadowed by allegations of racist abuse in Podgorica.
Sterling celebrated the visitors’ fifth goal by cupping his ears towards the home fans. “Best way to silence the haters (and yeah I mean racists),” Sterling tweeted alongside a photo of his celebration.
England manager Gareth Southgate said he heard racist chants aimed at Danny Rose and promised to report the issue to UEFA. “I definitely heard abuse at Danny Rose when he got booked at the end of the game. There is no doubt in my mind it happened. We will make sure that is reported to UEFA because it’s not acceptable,” said Southgate. “We’ve got to make sure we support our players.”
Marko Vesovic stunned England early on, but after drawing on their two previous visits to Podgorica, England showed why their current crop are among the favourites to be European champions next year.
Michael Keane’s header restored parity before Ross Barkley’s double either side of half-time put the visitors in command and Harry Kane and Sterling rounded off a comprehensive victory.
It was a different story in Lisbon as Fernando Santos’ reigning European champions Portugal, held to a 0-0 draw at home by Ukraine in their Group B opener, notched up a second draw, 1-1 at home to Serbia.
If the result wasn’t disappointing enough, captain Ronaldo hobbled off after 30 minutes with no word on whether the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be fit for to play for his club Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Ajax on April 10.
Serbia’s Ajax playmaker Dusan Tadic opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Ronaldo was denied an equaliser two minutes later as his effort was very well saved Marko Dmitrovic. The 156-time international then left the field after he pulled up chasing a ball on the left wing.
He received quick treatment from members of the medical team before returning to action but was replaced minutes later. In his absence, Porto’s Danilo Pereira netted a 42nd-minute equaliser, hammering a shot from outside the box into the top corner past a helpless Dmitrovic.
Elsewhere, Turkey made it two wins from two in Group H, like France, with a 4-0 victory at home over Moldova. Two first-half goals in the space of three minutes thanks to Hasan Ali Kaldirim and Cenk Tosun did the damage at Eskisehir.
Tosun bagged his second 10 minutes into the second half while Kaan Ayhan wrapped up a resounding win with Turkey’s fourth. Kosovo marked their maiden Euro qualifier with a 1-1 Group A draw against Bulgaria, but there was heartbreak for Luxembourg — 2-0 winners over Lithuania on Friday — as a Gerson Rodrigues own goal six minutes into injury time handed Group B leaders Ukraine a 2-1 win.
Euro 2020 qualifying results
Group A: At Podgorica: Montenegro 1 (Vesovic 18) England 5 (Keane 30, Barkley 39, 59, Kane 71, Sterling 81); At Pristina: Kosovo 1 (Zeneli 61) Bulgaria 1 (Bozhikov 39)
Group B: At Lisbon: Portugal 1 (Danilo 42) Serbia 1 (Tadic 7-pen); At Luxembourg: Luxembourg 1 (Turpel 34) Ukraine 2 (Tsygankov 40, Rodrigues 90-og)
Group H: At Andorra La Vella: Andorra 0 Albania 3 (Sadiku 21, Balaj 87, Abrashi 90); At Paris: France 4 (Umtiti 12, Giroud 68, mbappe 78, Griezmann 84) Iceland 0; At Eskisehir, Turkey: Turkey 4 (Kaldirim 24, Tosun 26, 54, Ayhan 70) Moldova 0
Iceland’s defender Ari Skulason (left) vies for the ball with France’s forward Kylian Mbappe during the UEFA Euro 2020 Group H qualification match at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Monday night. (AFP)
