PARIS/ COPENHAGEN- France’s Kylian Mbappe scored with seven minutes left in regulation to salvage a 1-1 draw against Austria in the UEFA Nations League, while Luka Modric was instrumental for Croatia in a 1-0 win over Denmark.
Mbappe rescues draw for France
Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to rescue a point for France in a 1-1 draw at Austria, but the defending champion sits in last place with just two points from three group games.
World Cup winner France is under pressure ahead of Monday night´s must-win home game against Croatia, which won 1-0 at Denmark thanks to Mario Pasalic´s close-range effort midway through the second half.
The Danes top Group 1 with six points, while Austria and Croatia have four.
“We didn´t win, we´ll take this point and try to win on Monday,” Mbappe said according to AP. “You should never be anxious; you should just try to improve.”
Mbappe, who has recovered from a blow to his knee, latched onto a pass from fellow substitute Christopher Nkunku to sprint clear and curl a left-footed shot into the top corner in the 83rd minute for his 27th international goal at the age of just 23.
Four minutes later, Mbappe hit the crossbar after combining with Karim Benzema and Nkunku. France finished strongly with midfielder Matteo Guendouzi having an injury-time effort saved by goalkeeper Patrick Pentz.
“We had so many chances in the second half. We had the control of the game but we weren´t efficient enough,” coach Didier Deschamps said. “These aren´t the results we expected. But obviously we´re not in our best form.”
France looked fragile in the first half, and fell behind when striker Andreas Weimann put former Manchester United interim coach Ralf Rangnick´s side ahead in the 37th minute.
Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate made his France debut in the center of defense. But he was far too static on Austria´s goal, as Marko Arnautovic sent Konrad Laimer skipping on the overlap down the right and his cross was swept in by Weimann.
Karim Benzema, who scored minutes into his international debut against Austria in 2007, earlier had a close-range header superbly saved by Pentz.
Pentz then kept out Benzema’s curler and a shot from Benjamin Pavard as Les Bleus hit back.
Mbappe came on in the 63rd for the ineffective Antoine Griezmann, who has not scored for Atletico Madrid or France since early January.
Only the group winners make it to the Final Four, while the last-placed teams will be relegated. The group winners in the lower leagues will gain promotion.
In the second-tier League B, Manor Solomon scored twice in the second half as Israel rallied to win 2-1 in Albania to lead Group 2.
Croatia beats Denmark 1-0
An opportunist second-half goal from Mario Pasalic gave Croatia a 1-0 away win in Denmark in Group A1 as playmaker Luka Modric came off the bench to turn the game around for the visitors, Reuters reported.
It marked the first time the Danes, who made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2020, dropped points in the current competition but the Croatians deserved the victory after a solid defensive performance and some moments of Modric magic.
The best chances of the first half fell to Denmark’s Andreas Cornelius, who had a curling left-foot shot swatted away by the keeper and a goal ruled out three minutes later when fullback Joakim Maehle was deemed to have committed a foul in the build-up.
The introduction of Modric as a halftime substitute changed things for the better for the visitors, and the midfielder began dictating the play, forcing a fine save from Kasper Schmeichel just after the hour mark.
Danish defender Joachim Andersen was lucky to get away with a yellow card for a reckless challenge minutes later as he flew into a sliding tackle on Andrej Kramaric that could well have resulted in his dismissal.
Modric’s free kick from that incident was deflected behind and from the resulting corner, again taken by Modric, Pasalic slotted the ball between Schmeichel’s legs to open the scoring in the 69th minute.
Denmark, who had a Jonas Wind goal ruled out for offside in the 87th minute, still lead the group with six points from three games and will host second-placed Austria on Monday, while Croatia, who are third, travel to Paris to take on bottom side France.
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