France did not manage to make a difference against England in their first Group D match of UEFA EURO 2012 (1-1), Monday to Donetsk.
After conceding the opening goal with Joleon Lescott to the half-hour mark, but the Blues have been able to react very quickly to equalize through Samir Nasri, but did not have the boost or need for renal prevail. The start of the meeting was very shy, two teams with static, sealed by the stakes and heat (31 ° C at kickoff). Private including Frank Lampard (package) and Wayne Rooney (suspended), the English start within a more defensive setup, with the only Ashley Young in support of Danny Welbeck, but two compact lines and serious. And not surprisingly, so it was the Blues to play, an area in which they shone in recent friendly matches, with Nasri, Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery.
These three players showed active early in the game, but neither Benzema (after combination with Nasri, 6e), or Ribery (10th) or Nasri (edge of the area, 11e) does manage to make a difference. While the British created the first clear chance of the match: served by a luminous opening of Young in space, full line, dribbled past Lloris but James Milner could not straighten his shot (14th). He still had to wait fifteen minutes to see the score released on a free kick from Steven Gerrard.The captain was Joleon Lescott at the back post, which marked a head after getting rid of smashée Alou Diarra.
The breakthrough English restored life to the men of Laurent Blanc. In the minutes that followed, Diarra procured a double opportunity to redeem himself lost his duel: on a free kick from Nasri, he fitted in a powerful header that Joe Hart rejected at the feet of Ribery, whose back pass was Diarra , who crossed over his second attempt (35th). And four minutes later, Nasri equalized.
The midfielder Manchester City FC met in a club teammate of a curling shot from outside the surface, thus concluding a beautiful three-movement initiated by Evra and a rebate back to Ribery. France is missing then returning the locker room leading, but Yohan Cabaye (deflected shot) and Benzema (shot from a tight angle) lacked success.
The second half resumed on the same basis, with a nearby Nasri to provide a brace on a bad back pass from Milner, yet brilliant tonight. Constrained by a good dry cleaner Florent Malouda, the England midfielder put his keeper in trouble, who grabbed the ball narrowly. England then responded, playing above themselves and providing more ball possession.However, opportunities remain French, whether by Benzema (price Nasri, 65th), Ribery (acute angle, 74e) or Cabaye (twice on corner, 80th).
If the Blues dominated the meeting, with 61% of possession and 15 shots to 1, their animation has generally lacked sharpness and verticality throughout the game. That’s why Laurent Blanc will nourish regrets, because this England team seemed well within the scope of his players. It will now make a difference in the two other matches of this group, and be more decisive to qualify.
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