France holds off valiant Ireland in Euro qualifying: three takeaways

By Matthew Placzek
Special to FOX Sports

DUBLIN — France had to fight to the finish to secure a 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland on a frigid night at Aviva Stadium on Monday.

Here are three thoughts on the Euro qualifying action from Dublin:

1. Luck was not in Ireland’s favor

Stephen Kenny’s side came within fingertips of stealing a point from France.

In the 89th minute, Josh Cullen whipped in a corner toward an 18-yard-box chock-full of green shirts. After wriggling free from Aurélien Tchouameni, Nathan Collins found himself in acres of space with a free look at goal. His header was everything it should have been — powerful and placed in a corner — but AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan‘s firm right hand denied the Wolves center-back his moment of jubilation.

After watching the Netherlands demonstrate how one shouldn’t play against France, Ireland took the pitch with a sound game plan. Les Bleus love to push their fullbacks high and wide to punish opponents on the wings, so Ireland’s 3-4-2-1 became a 5-4-1 on defense to shore up those holes.

The two attacking mids, Chiedozie Ogbene and Jason Knight, pushed out wide as the first layer of defense against Theo Hernández and Benjamin Pavard. Matt Doherty and Seamus Coleman dropped behind their teammates as cover, and the wide Irish center-backs marked Kylian Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani on the wings. Add in John Egan‘s exceptional man-marking of Olivier Giroud, and France failed to register a single shot on goal in the first half.

Unfortunately for Ireland, the Evan Ferguson who took the pitch against France was not the Evan Ferguson who scored Wednesday. The Brighton man was ineffective up top as a sole striker and only touched the ball 18 times, far less than the 41 that he earned against Latvia. Ferguson lost both of his aerial duels and didn’t take a single shot all night, becoming the first player subbed off for the Boys in Green in the 65th minute.

It was a tough night for the 18-year-old, but his ineffectiveness is just one piece of a much bigger attacking question that Kenny must solve before the next batch of qualifiers. There are five center-forwards on this Irish squad. If Ferguson can’t hold up play well enough as a sole striker, then try to pair him up with any of the other four in a 3-5-2.

The bulk of Ireland’s chances came in the final 10 minutes as substitutes (and center-forwards) Adam Idah and Michael Obafemi advanced forward without fear. That drive needs to be present for an entire match if Ireland are to improve on this performance.

Benjamin Pavard puts France in front

Benjamin Pavard sends a powerful strike past Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to give France the second-half lead.

2. France hangs on — but barely

On Friday night, France demolished a team that made it to the World Cup quarterfinals. On Monday, the French were outclassed by a team that failed to qualify.

After witnessing his side’s struggle to attack in the first half, there was no tactical change from Didier Deschamps coming out of the break.

France continued to aimlessly swing the ball around its backline without any idea of how to cut through Ireland’s back five. When the French did get the ball into the midfield, they ruined their advantage in numbers by playing multiple passes out of play or into the opponent’s feet.

Adrien Rabiot, Eduardo Camavinga and Antoine Griezmann combined for a woeful 24 incomplete passes over the course of 90 minutes.

By the time Moussa Diaby was introduced in the 65th minute, all of the momentum had swung in Ireland’s favor.

The French might have had the lead, but they spent the final 25 minutes on their heels as the Irish pummeled them with counter attacks and set pieces. Deschamps should have used one or two substitutions on attacking players to try to force Ireland back toward their own goal, but he doubled down on defense by sending in Jules Koundé and Tchouameni.

Eventually, France will come across a team in this competition that has enough talent on both sides of the ball to take the 2018 World Cup champions down.

It won’t happen in group play with Greece or Gibraltar, but there is one team in Europe that is on its own run of impressive results and could stand in France’s way to a title in Germany next summer. After their defeat at the World Cup at the hands of Les Bleus, Gareth Southgate and England should be licking their chops with the potential for a revenge match at Euro 2024.

3. Benjamin Pavard only scores screamers

After sitting on the bench for France’s last seven games, Pavard was one of three changes to Deschamps’ starting XI as Koundé received a much-deserved rest. Not one to shy away from the moment, Pavard rewarded his coach’s decision with one of the best goals of Euro qualifying so far.

In the 50th minute, Ireland’s Cullen intercepted a weak pass from Rabiot at the top of the box and turned to play Knight. What should have been a simple, five-yard pass found its way onto Pavard’s feet. The fullback took one touch forward with his right foot before unleashing a cracking strike that left Gavin Bazunu and the rest of Aviva Stadium in shock.

It was Pavard’s third goal of his French career and remarkably similar to the first he scored at the 2018 World Cup. In a knockout stage match against Argentina, the Bayern Munich defender met a bouncing cross with the purest of strikes on the half-volley to score an absolute gem.

His shot Monday didn’t have as much curl, and it wasn’t as close to the top bins, but it was world-class nonetheless.

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