France vs Spain international friendly 2017: As it happened, match report, action, goals
Kylian Mbappé made the headlines at the start but it was Gerard Deulofeu who would settle matters after winning a penalty and scoring himself to give Spain a 2-0 win at the Stade de FranceChampions League draw 2018
France 0-2 Spain: full-time match report
In a friendly game that had the tempo of a World Cup qualifier, Spain impressed while France looked subdued for much of the game thanks to both their system and the ability of Spain's midfield maestros.
The big news when Didier Deschamps released his team news was that Kylian Mbappé would start, making his first start in a France shirt at just 18 years of age. He looked very lively throughout and looked far from out of place when Griezmann, Gameiro and himself took off in full flight towards David de Gea's goal.
France had the better of the chances in the first half with Mbappé coming close from a Kurzawa cross but the longer the game went on, the more Spain started to boss possession. By the time the half-time whistle came, France were on the ropes. Adrien Rabiot was being overrun in midfield and Deschamps changed the PSG man with Tiemoue Bakayoko at half-time to try and get a hold in midfield.
It worked for a spell and France had a goal scored when Griezmann headed home a Gameiro cushioned header into his path. Spain were taking off back to the half-way line to start again but the video assistant referee had other ideas. He spotted that both Gameiro and Griezmann were marginally offside and ruled the goal out meaning we were back to square one. It barely took a second glance to see that the video assistant was correct and the game never suffered with a delay. Kudos to video technology would come pouring in later.
David Silva entered the fray and affected change inside France's penalty area with the ability to squeezes passes into the tightest of spaces. It was not until Gerard Deulofeu came on, however, that the game would really change though. Within seconds of being on the pitch, he was taken down by Laurent Koscielny when he obstructed him in the penalty area and Spain were awarded a penalty. Silva slotted home and all of Spain's knocking finally procuded an answer.
Just nine minutes later, an exceptional piece of skill by Sergo Busquets to get himself out of trouble resulted in the ball making it's way to David Silva who poked a pass into Jordi Alba's path. He swung a cross into the waiting Deulofeu and it was 2-0 just like that. The video assistant referee was called in to make sure that all was above board and he decided that indeed, it was.
Spain were home and dry and while it was only a friendly, France were desperate for a win in their home stadium having lost the final to Portugal in Euro 2016. The home side did no get to exorcise any demons but Spain did as they were beaten by Italy in the same competition in the same stadium. Mbappé impressed but it was Deulofeu, who was not a debutant but made the difference in the end.
