England and France played out a 1-1 draw during their opening game at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk.
The Three Lions took a surprise lead in the 30th minute, after http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360 quickly restored parity only nine minutes later, as both the sides settled
for a stalemate in the eagerly anticipated fixture.
It was Laurent Blanc’s side who were the aggressors in the opening stages of the game, as England found it difficult to come to terms with the brisk pace of the Les Bleus.
Early on in the game, Franck Ribery played a pass to Nasri right at the edge of the box, but the winger failed to trouble Joe Hart with his powerful low shot aimed at the bottom right corner of the goal.
However, the English came close of grabbing an early lead against the tempo of the game. Ashley Young played a beautiful through pass towards http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Lloris-c16408 with his first touch.
With France continuing with their dominant passing game despite the early scare, England opened the scoring in the 30th minute through Lescott to stun their opponents.
The Les Bleus conceded a free-kick on the right wing and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 sent a perfect delivery inside the box from the ensuing set-piece. The pas was headed home by Lescott, who scored his first international goal for England in 17 appearances.
The French then charged forward in search of a quick response, and came close of levelling things up only minutes later, but a powerful header from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alou-Diarra-c5259 was kept out of harm’s way by Joe Hart.
However, with the Les Blues continuously mounting pressure in front of the goal, Nasri finally managed to crack open the stubborn English defence.
After exchanging a couple of passes right at the edge of the box, Franck Ribery set up a shooting opportunity for Nasri by spraying a slow pass into his path. The 24-year old was up to the task this time, as he blasted the ball past the English goalie to
help his side get back on terms.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joe-Hart-c18699.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 launched a string of attacks right at the death.
However, despite being the second best team for a major portion of the game, Roy Hodgson’s side stoutly defended their goal to deny France three points out of the game, as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
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