Olise scores late to grab France 1-0 Nations League win at Belgium

Michael Olise runs to score the winning goal for France

Michael Olise’s magnificent late strike gave France a 1-0 victory in Belgium in the UEFA Nations League as Zinedine Zidane made it two wins out of two since being named coach.

Bayern Munich star Olise, who was one of the outstanding players at the World Cup where France reached the semifinals, came off the bench late on with the game in Brussels on Monday goalless, and set off from inside his own half to score the winner in the 88th minute.

The win follows a 1-0 success away to Turkiye last Friday in Zidane’s first game at the helm after succeeding Didier Deschamps as France coach following the World Cup.

France are therefore top of Nations League Group A1 with six points, three points ahead of Belgium and Italy, with the latter winning 4-1 in Turkiye on Monday.

Les Bleus play host to Italy next at the Stade de France on Friday in what will be Zidane’s homecoming. France will then entertain Belgium on October 5.

Zidane was without captain Kylian Mbappe, with the Real Madrid striker having returned to his club for treatment after injuring his left knee while scoring the winner against Turkiye.

The French lineup at the King Baudouin Stadium showed nine changes, with goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Chelsea defender Maxence Lacroix the only players to keep their places.

There was notably a debut in midfield for Lucas Da Cunha of Como in Italy, as well as in attack for Esteban Lepaul of Rennes, the top scorer in France’s Ligue 1 last season.

Belgium, in contrast, made only two changes to the team that started during Friday’s 2-0 win in Italy for what was new coach Mark van Bommel’s home bow.

France had the better of the chances with Paris Saint-Germain’s Desire Doue cracking a shot off the bar in the first half and Da Cunha striking the post early in the second half.

But the contest was heading to an unremarkable goalless conclusion until Olise intervened, having been sent on in the 77th minute in place of Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola.

The London-born player collected possession inside his own half and advanced all the way to the edge of the Belgian box before curling a shot beyond the reach of Senne Lammens into the bottom-left corner of the net.

Italy bounced back from an opening 2-0 defeat to Belgium in Rome, as they thrashed Turkiye 4-1 on a rainy night in Bursa.

Roberto Mancini’s team dazzled in the downpour, scoring three goals inside the first half-hour as the hosts were punished for defensive errors in their muddy goalmouth. Italy went ahead when Bursa-born fullback Zeki Celik swung wildly at a low near-post corner, deflecting the ball to Alessandro Bastoni who fired into the roof of the net.

After 23 minutes, Altay Bayindir flapped at a cross-shot from Michael Kayode and sent the ball into the path of Lazio’s Davide Frattesi, who tucked it home. Four minutes later, Kayode found himself free on the right side of the penalty area, and his near-post shot eluded the Turkish goalkeeper.

Turkiye gave the restless home crowd hope in the 47th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn to Oguz Aydin beyond the far post. Aydin found Baris Yilmaz who drilled into an empty net, but the comeback lasted five minutes. Pio Esposito headed Italy’s fourth after Sandro Tonali had struck a post.

Yilmaz looked to have cut the gap again with a curling effort but Aydin, bouncing up and down in front of Donnarumma, was offside. Esposito and his older sibling, Sebastiano, also made history in Bursa, becoming the first brothers to start an Italy game together since Aldo and Luigi Cevenini in 1915.