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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Mathew Davies

Why France's goal vs England was given despite Bukayo Saka appearing to be fouled

France have taken the lead against England in their World Cup quarter-final clash.

Aurelien Tchouameni's strike on 17 minutes has put Les Bleus in early control of the game in Qatar, with a place against Morocco in the semi-finals at stake.

There was controversy, though, in the build-up, with Bukayo Saka appearing to be fouled by Dayot Upamecano in the early phases of the move.

Tchouameni's sweet strike followed some 20 seconds later, much to the consternation of England's players.

In the ITV studio, former Premier League referee Peter Walton tried to clear up the situation, saying: "They could’ve went back and looked at it, in fact I think they did because it was the same attacking phase of play that France won the ball to the goal being scored.

"The issue is, was it a foul? I don’t think it was because he’s gone down very easily on the slightest of touches. We’ve not actually seen the replays but that’s my opinion, he’s gone down too easily for the VAR to say he made a clear and obvious error."

At half-time, France still lead England 1-0, although Gareth Southgate's side did come back into the game and had a decent penalty shout waved away.

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