Football
2018-19 UEFA Nations League, League A
FRA 
2
FT
 GER
1
ESPN 5y

Antoine Griezmann brace sees France rally past Germany in Nations League

Antoine Griezmann scored twice as France came back from a goal down to beat Germany 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday.

Germany manager Joachim Low admitted he was feeling pressure over his job following a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands on Saturday which left them bottom of their Nations League group.

An early goal from the penalty spot gave Germany the lead before 10 minutes when Toni Kroos rolled the ball home past Hugo Lloris after a questionable call for handball on France's Presnel Kimpembe.

Germany should have been up two minutes later, but Leroy Sane misplaced a cross to Timo Werner on a lightning-fast counter-attack and Lloris was able to come out and cut off the pass.

"We should not be disappointed tonight after such a performance," said Loew after the match. "We were on the same level with the world champions and we should have scored a second goal in the first half. But the French have a lot of quality and scored two goals from just a handful of chances."

Kylian Mbappe came closest to scoring an equaliser for France, but Griezmann's ball over the top of the German defence was just out of the Paris Saint-Germain striker's reach as the visitors took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room.

Mbappe had another great chance go begging just after break when he poked a right-footed shot wide of Manuel Neuer's goal after getting in behind the German defence.

France were back on level terms just after the hour mark when a well-marked Griezmann was able to redirect a perfect Lucas Hernandez cross over Neuer to make it 1-1.

And France would then take the lead with a controversial penalty of their own, as Griezmann left no doubt from the spot after Mats Hummels was whistled for a harsh foul on Blaise Matuidi in the box.

"This is the difference between a team with a lot of confidence and a team like Germany which lacks some confidence and is maybe not as efficient," France coach Didier Deschamps told reporters.

"There is nothing better for my team, my players, than this. The best vitamin is victory and tonight we had a difficult game and won against a difficult team."

The result means the Netherlands and France will be left to battle it out for top spot in League A's Group 1 with the loss meaning Germany cannot reach the final.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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