The Nations League took centre-stage once more this evening with four more games.
Here’s how it all went down.
Scorers: Kolo Muani 30′, Dembele 55′
A much changed France side eased past Belgium to bounce back from a shock loss to Italy last week, with PSG pair Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele providing the goals in their 2-0 win.
Belgium began the game the stronger, but home side weathered the early storm and grew into proceedings.
On the half hour mark, that was rewarded as pinball in the Belgium box fell to the feet of Randal Kolo Muani, who fired home via a deflection from Wout Faes to hand Didier Deschamps’ side the lead.
They could have added a second through Matteo Guendouzi, with both the midfielder and Marcus Thuram testing Koen Casteels in the Belgium goal as they headed into the break a goal up.
Just 10 minutes into the second half they had found a key second goal though, as Ousmane Dembele cut inside two Belgian players before finding the roof of the net.
Belgium enjoyed more of the ball as France sat back, introducing the threat of Kylian Mbappé on the counter attack, but the Red Devils could not create anything of note to test Mike Maignan
Scorers: Fanni 90; Frattesi 38′, Kean 62
Italy made it two wins from two over the international break with a much more straightforward win over Israel than the 2-1 scoreline suggested in Budapest.
Likely still on a high from their impressive win over France less than a week ago, Italy were slow out of the blocks against Israel.
But they took the lead with their first shot on target as Davide Frattesi provided an excellent headed finish to a cross from the left sent in by Federico DiMarco, who had to that point been the Azzurri’s brightest player.
Israel improved at the start of the second half, grabbing their first shot on target after 53 minutes as Manor Solomon tested Gianluigi Donnarumma.
But moments later Italy had doubled their advantage as Frattesi won the ball back in midfield before feeding Giacomo Raspadori. The Napoli man saw his effort blocked but Moise Kean was in hand to fire home the rebound, and put Luciano Spalletti’s side on course for six points from six.
The tempo dropped dramatically following that goal, but Israel astonishingly pulled one back right at the death as Abu Fani fired an excellent effort past Donnarumma, leaving Italy to see out a nervy last few minutes.
Scorers: Myhre 9′, Haaland 80′; Sabitzer 37′
Erling Haaland and co. recorded the first win of their Nations League campaign as they held off a spirited Austria side to win 2-1.
They looked to have put their poor start to the Nations League behind them after just nine minutes, as Alexander Sorloth went on a strong run before picking out Felix Myhre, who curled home confidently.
But Austria improved throughout the first half, and after going close on several occasions they finally grabbed a deserved equaliser as Marcel Sabitzer latched onto a deflected pass before firing through the legs of Ørjan Nyland.
There was concern among the Norway fanbase just after the hour mark when midfielder Martin Ødegaard was forced off through a bad looking ankle injury, but they swiftly forgot about it when Erling Haaland popped up with what proved to be the winning goal 10 minutes from time.
The Manchester City man, who failed to even register a shot in their 0-0 draw with Kazakhstan, brought down a Norway clearance before holding off two Austrian defenders to slot home and hand his side all three points.
Scorers: Moore 1′, Wilson 3′; Camaj 73′
Wales secured their first win under new manager Craig Bellamy as early goals from Kieffer Moore and Harry Wilson saw them run out 2-1 winners.
The Dragons got off to a perfect start when Kieffer Moore seized on a loose ball to thump past Milan Mijatovic and hand his side the lead just 37 seconds into proceedings.
Two minutes later they had doubled their lead as Harry Wilson curled home from 30 yards and hand Wales breathing room in the process as they held Montenegro at bay for the remainder of the first half with relative ease.
The second half was a different story though, as the hosts came out with renewed intensity and knocked on the Welsh door for much of the second 45.
They pulled one back 15 minutes from time when Driton Camaj found the back of the net, but despite firing off 10 shots across the second half they could not grab a second, leaving Wales clinging onto a vital three points and Bellamy’s first victory in charge.
