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France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winner – The world champions France found their way past Ivory Coast despite playing nowhere near their best. Les Bleus always looked the more likely victors in this match but were drifting towards a draw against the stubborn Ivorians until Tchouameni popped up to score the winner […]

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winner – The world champions France found their way past Ivory Coast despite playing nowhere near their best. Les Bleus always looked the more likely victors in this match but were drifting towards a draw against the stubborn Ivorians until Tchouameni popped up to score the winner in injury time. Ivory Coast worked hard and deserved what would have been a creditable result. Follow InsideSport.IN for the latest sports news and updates.

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

Clauss and Saliba make France debuts in last gasp Ivory Coast win. Olivier Giroud made a further dent in Thierry Henry’s all-time goals record as France beat Ivory Coast in a Marseille friendly thanks to a last gasp winner.

France are lucky to have won this match, but to they created their own luck by pushing for the win late on. The Ivorians gave Lloris some work to do in the second half, but had no shots inside France’s box. It’s a missed opportunity for them, but they’ll learn from it.

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France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

n a game which saw Christopher Nkunku make his first start for his country, it was Ivory Coast who struck first on 19 minutes through former Ligue 1 standout Nicolas Pépé. The Arsenal winger took advantage of a play-on call in midfield to tear past Theo Hernández in the area and fire across Hugo Lloris for the opener.

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni shines as France beat Ivory Coast in a friendly

But the lead lasted just three minutes as Hernández quickly made up for things by floating a perfect cross into the six-yard box for Giroud to crash a header home. That is his 47th goal for Les Bleus, putting him just four behind Henry as the country’s all time top men’s goalscorer.

Insidesport
France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

After the break, William Saliba was introduced to a raucous ovation for his international debut, while Badra Ali Sangaré made an excellent save to deny Antoine Griezmann from putting France in front, only for Aurélien Tchouaméni to win it injury time with a header from Matteo Guendouzi’s corner.

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: A 93rd minute winner by Aurelien Tchouameni

Saliba wasn’t the only one to win his first cap before the end too as Jonathan Clauss, who was still playing amateur football just five years ago at the age of 24, came on in the closing stages for a fairytale ending.

Insidesport
France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts

France face South Africa in another friendly at Stade Pierre-Mauroy next, while Ivory Coast head to London to face England at Wembley. This match may not live long in the memory, but it was fun while it lasted.

France 2-1 Ivory Coast LIVE: Aurelien Tchouameni scored the winning goal as France beat Ivory Coast as Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss made their debuts
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