Portugal and Italy on Sunday kept hold of first place in their UEFA Nations League groups with goalless draws against France and Poland on a night of little drama, while England saw off Belgium to take the initiative in their group.
There was not much to talk about at the Stade de France as a star-studded lineup of players — including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann — failed to muster much of a spectacle in their match in League A, Group 3.
The 1,000 fans who gathered in the cavernous stadium just outside Paris to watch France host the reigning European champions were treated to just four shots on target as two rugged defenses canceled each other out.
Photo: AFP
“We didn’t score a goal, but we weren’t here to score goals,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “France are a great team. They have great players. It’s not always possible to create opportunities.”
Pepe headed home what he thought was a 74th-minute opener when he got on the end of Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick, but it was flagged offside.
Ronaldo, chasing his 102nd international goal, was denied by a flying save from Hugo Lloris in stoppage-time.
Mbappe fluffed France’s best chance when Rui Patricio anticipated his gentle chip when he was one-on-one with the Portugal goalkeeper.
Both sides are on seven points, four ahead of Croatia, whose 2-1 home win over Sweden was the group’s more entertaining match, with a calamitous late lapse from Pontus Jansson allowing the 2018 FIFA World Cup finalists to snatch the points in a soaking Zagreb.
Defender Jansson dawdled under a high ball in the penalty area with six minutes remaining and allowed Ivan Perisic to nip in behind. The Inter winger then squared the ball for Andrej Kramaric to tap in from close range.
Sweden are on no points after losing all three of their matches.
Italy stretched their unbeaten streak to 18 matches and held onto top spot in League A, Group 1 with their stalemate in Gdansk.
Roberto Mancini’s side are one point ahead of the Netherlands, who also drew 0-0 with Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of their meeting in Bergamo tomorrow.
“We had several opportunities, especially in the first half when we could have scored at least two goals,” Mancini said. “However, beyond the result we are happy. We didn’t score, but it happens.”
England manager Gareth Southgate said that his side showed what they were made of after coming from behind to beat Belgium 2-1 and move top of League A, Group 2.
The Three Lions are on seven points, one ahead of the world’s top-ranked side after Marcus Rashford’s spot-kick and Mason Mount’s deflected winner 25 minutes from time canceled out Romelu Lukaku’s early penalty.
“We are not going to face a more difficult game defensively,” Southgate said. “That is the beauty of the Nations League, you get games against this level of opponent. It’s a great experience for them, and to go and win it should give them a sense of what might be possible in the next few years.”
Denmark are three points behind England in third after their simple 3-0 win over bottom side Iceland.
In League B, Erling Braut Haaland showed what the rescheduled Euro 2020 would be missing after he slammed home a hat-trick to help Norway to a 4-0 thrashing of Romania. Haaland struck in the 13th, 64th and 74th minutes as Norway moved level on six points with group leaders Austria, 1-0 winners in Northern Ireland.
Norway were knocked out of the Euro 2020 playoffs by Serbia on Thursday last week.
Elsewhere in League B, Scotland edged Slovkia 1-0, the Czech Republic won 2-1 in Israel, Russia were held 1-1 by Turkey, Hungary won 1-0 in Serbia, Finland beat Bulgaria 2-0 and the Republic of Ireland and Wales played out a goalless draw.
In League C, Armenia drew 2-2 with Georgia, Estonia drew 3-3 with North Macedonia, Greece beat Moldova 2-0, Slovenia won 1-0 in Kosovo, Lithuania and Belarus drew 2-2 and Kazakhstan were held to a goalless draw by Albania.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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