Michael Olise’s magnificent late strike gave France a 1-0 victory in Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Monday as Zinedine Zidane made it two wins out of two since being named coach.
Bayern Munich star Olise, who was one of the outstanding players at the World Cup in which France reached the semi-finals, came off the bench late on with the game in Brussels goalless, and set off from inside his own half to score the winner in the 88th minute. Zidane was without captain Kylian Mbappe here with the Real Madrid striker having returned to his club for treatment after injuring his left knee while scoring the winner against Turkey. France had the better of the chances with Paris Saint-Germain’s Desire Doue cracking a shot off the bar in the first half and Da Cunha striking the post early in the second half. But the contest was heading to an unremarkable goalless conclusion until Olise intervened, having been sent on in the 77th minute in place of Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola.
The London-born player collected possession inside his own half and advanced all the way to the edge of the Belgian box before curling a shot beyond the reach of Senne Lammens into the bottom-left corner of the net.
