Benjamin Pavard double helps France beat Scotland 4-1 in football friendly

LILLE – Defender Benjamin Pavard scored twice and Kylian Mbappe struck from the spot, as France came from behind to beat Scotland 4-1 in a friendly in Lille on Tuesday.

Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes due to increased security measures, after two Swedes were shot dead in an attack in Brussels on Monday before a Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden that was later abandoned.

Billy Gilmour gave Scotland a surprise lead in the 11th minute, sweeping into the far corner after a mistake by Eduardo Camavinga.

But France, who qualified for Euro 2024 last week like Scotland, hit back five minutes later as Pavard glanced home Antoine Griezmann’s corner at the near post.

Pavard then became the first France player to score two headed goals in the same game since Zinedine Zidane – popularly known as Zizou – in the 1998 World Cup final, diving to nod in a cross from Mbappe after excellent work by the France captain.

“I felt like I could score tonight,” said Pavard, who left Bayern Munich to join Inter Milan in August.

“Someone told me ‘You’re going to score’ and I got two, so even better.”

Mbappe, whose brace in Friday’s 2-1 win in the Netherlands secured qualification, netted a third for the hosts with a penalty after Liam Cooper was punished for grabbing a fistful of Olivier Giroud’s shirt.

Kingsley Coman slammed in a fourth with 20 minutes to play after Griezmann stabbed against the crossbar from point-blank range.

While centre-backs William Saliba, Axel Disasi and Dayot Upamecano were unavailable due to injury, others have stepped up, including right-back Pavard, who was deployed at the heart of defence alongside Ibrahima Konate.

In last week’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands, left-back Lucas Hernandez also shone after moving to centre-back.

Speaking after the Lille match, Deschamps said he would not complain about the selection “headaches” facing him.

“There are quite a few options (at centre-back). There is huge competition. I have always been given headaches. I won’t complain about that. They know that when they get game time, it is in their interest to perform well,” said Deschamps, whose men have six wins from as many matches in Group B and are guaranteed to finish top.

They wrap up their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign against Gibraltar and Greece in November.

Scotland, who have also qualified for the continental showpiece, dropped their first points in Group A after losing 2-0 to Spain last Thursday.

They are level on points with group leaders Spain (15) and coach Steve Clarke has challenged his men to match La Roja’s tally, which he expects to be 21 points with wins over Cyprus and Georgia in November.

The Scots, who are away to Georgia before wrapping up their qualifying competition at home to Norway, are on a slump with their defeat in Lille their third in a row.

“We don’t like losing,” said Clarke. “I don’t want them to be comfortable losing or happy losing. We spoke about that after the game, it is important we set our standards higher than that. We do not want to lose, we have lost three in a row now. I have asked them to make sure when we go to Georgia that we stop this run.” AFP