France beat Denmark at the third time of asking in recent meetings between the two, a late Kylian Mbappe strike settling the game 2-1 to leave Les Bleus well-placed to top their World Cup 2022 group.
It was Denmark who triumphed in both Nations League games of late, but although they survived France’s non-stop attacking for long periods here, they never looked like making it three out of three.
Their initial response to falling behind to Mbappe’s smart finish was impressive, though, with Andreas Christensen powering in a header from a corner only a few minutes after the Danes fell behind.
Late on it was only France who pushed for the points, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot going close - but it was left to Mbappe once again to find the crucial touch to become joint top scorer at the tournament so far.
Here are the player ratings from the Group D clash at Stadium 974.
France
Hugo Lloris, 6. Utterly untroubled in the first half. Made a couple of good aerial claims after the break but could do nothing about the equaliser and was also almost beaten by Braithwaite late on.
Jules Kounde, 7. Booked for a late challenge. Got forward to better effect than Pavard managed and wasn’t directly culpable for a goal, either, though did have one or two troubles dealing with Maehle’s runs forward.
Raphael Varane, 7. Recalled after recovering from injury and looked largely solid throughout. Mostly cruised through and was replaced late on to manage his return.
Dayot Upamecano, 7. More involved than his partner in terms of defensive clearances and direct battles with Cornelius, but mostly dealt well with them outside of one early run and shot.
Theo Hernandez, 7. Such a powerful and clever runner, always leaving space for Mbappe to attack but happy to go on the inside to aid build-up play. Great one-two for another assist. One or two defensive moments of concern but still a largely very positive showing.
Aurelien Tchouameni, 9. Absolute control in the middle and always quick to nip counters in the bud before they could develop. Didn’t misplace a single pass until the final 10 minutes and almost scored a late winner with a diving header.
Adrien Rabiot, 6. Not great for Denmark’s equaliser as he lost his man then tried to raise a high boot to clear instead of challenging for a header. In open play he worked the ball well but sometimes overdid things, including an attempted midair volley which he skied.
Antoine Griezmann, 8. Hard-working and always looking for his teammates in the final third. Spurned his own one big chance on the hour. He remains key to France’s build-up though and his channel running often allows the team to go two-on-one down the flanks. Good set-piece deliveries and a cracking cross assisted the winner.
Ousmane Dembele, 6. Regularly France’s outlet in wide areas and did carry the ball well, but not always on-point with his final pass or cross today.
Kylian Mbappe, 9. Frightening speed to give France an out ball. Untouchable on the dribble but skied a very presentable first-half chance. A relentless presence though and helped to create his own opening goal, before darting far post to...knee? stomach? get something on the ball, anyway, for the winner.
Olivier Giroud, 6. Played an hour and was his usual difficult self to deal with, but it wasn’t his day in terms of efforts on goal. Didn’t link directly with the wide forwards as much as usual.
Subs: M Thuram 7, I Konate 6, K Coman 6, Y Fofana n/a
Denmark
Kasper Schmeichel, 6. Decent save off a header first half and quick off his line more than once. Couldn’t do much about Mbappe’s opener but made a couple of other decent parries and one fine tip-over.
Andreas Christensen, 6. Booked for a foul on Mbappe but it could easily have been the other colour. Turned his back for the goal and it bounced in off him. But for all those defensive struggles, it was he who powered in the equaliser at the other end.
Joachim Andersen, 5. Couldn’t cope with Mbappe either, turned more than once and left for dead by pace. Not the impenetrable barrier they needed him to be aerially, either.
Victor Nelsson, 7. Probably coped best out of the back three in terms of on-the-ground duels and sticking with his man when France tried to quickly play in behind.
Rasmus Kristensen, 7. Decent as a ball-carrier, less-capable of matching Mbappe’s speed and relentless running in behind. Who is, in fairness? Made plenty of tackles and won what would usually be considered a lot of challenges, it’s just that against that particular player, even a lot is not enough.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 5. Bypassed and not really able to control the game at any point for his side but battled on throughout and made one decent clearance from a goalbound shot inside his own six-yard box.
Christian Eriksen, 5. Had a couple of weak efforts on goal but this wasn’t really a fixture for the creative man to make his mark in. Nowhere near enough time on the ball and not able to shut down his opposite numbers.
Joakim Maehle, 7. Very good clearance almost off the line after a corner. His usual impressive self going forward, taking on his man and looking to deliver a few crosses when the time was right and there were runners in the box but didn’t really come up with any deliveries to provide shooting chances.
Jesper Lindstrom, 6. Was hard-working and tried to run into spaces to give his side an outlet but never really capable of beating the France defenders one-on-one too often.
Mikkel Damsgaard, 6. A little more involved in build-up play than Lindstrom in terms of being a support and link man, but still nowhere near enough incision or final-third threat to be a regular danger to Lloris’ goal.
Andreas Cornelius, 6. Ineffective after one early run down the right channel which he got a shot out of, but fired well off-target. Hooked at the break.
Subs: M Braithwaite 5, K Dolberg 5, C Norgaard n/a, A Bah n/a.
