Anthony Martial’s Playmaking Leads France To Victory Against Germany

Not surprisingly, all the talk in the build-up to this game was dominated by the absences of deadly striker Karim Benzema and Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena.

That meant France were without two players who have been a fixture of the side in recent years, and thus a brand newtrio was formed.

Olivier Giroud, who had scored seven goals in eight matches since his double in a 2-1 win over Denmark last month, was given another chance to shine from the start. The Arsenal striker struck his first international goal in a 2-1 win in Germany in February 2012, and his goal would break the deadlock here. But he did so thanks to some more wonderful work from Martial.

The 19-year-old has hardly played badly since making a mega-money move from Monaco to Old Trafford in the summer, but he had trouble getting past Antonio Rudiger early on. It is rare to see someone catch up with Martial when he gets a run on goal, but that is exactly what Rudiger did after 35 minutes. But a minute into injury time in a first half short on action, the former Lyon player effectively decided the game with another stunning intervention. Picked out by a long, beautiful diagonal ball from Paul Pogba, Martial initially miscontrolled but was allowed to recover by Rudiger. That would prove fatal as Martial shrugged off the German defender to reach the byline and then bamboozled Matthias Ginter with a dazzling stepover. He still had the composure to tee up Giroud for a simple finish — the third goal he has created in five international matches.

Bit by bit, the German defensive system broke down, and it was all down to Martial. Once the first two defenders were beaten, Boateng was forced to confront the French attacker, and Giroud was left unmarked yards out as Mats Hummels retreated to the line.

Andre-Pierre Gignac then came off the bench to thump home a header from a wonderful Blaise Matuidi cross with four minutes left to seal France’s fifth win in a row.

Gignac, who left Marseille for Mexican side Tigres in the summer, proved that he, too, can have a say if the Euro 2016 hosts need to make do without Benzema next summer.