DUBLIN: France bagged a narrow victory over Republic of Ireland in front of a raucous crowd at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, thanks to a superb winner by Benjamin Pavard in the second half.
Both sides went into the first half neck-to-neck in what was a frustrating interval for the French and a well-structured one for the Irish, who kept the World Cup 2022 finalists at bay for the half, but fell behind five minutes after the restart when Pavard intercepted a Josh Cullen pass and fired past Gavin Bazunu.
The Irish made some highly impressive attempts to level the score late on, giving the French a run for their money, but fell short as a stunning save by Mike Maignan denied Nathan Collins a late equaliser.
The Republic will be traveling to Greece on June 16 for their next qualifier for Euro 2024. But while they must wait nearly three months to try and get points on the board, Les Bleus are already well on their way to qualifying for next year’s finals in Germany after backing up their 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands with a narrow win in Dublin.
The other game in Group B between the Netherlands and Gibraltar ended with a 3-0 victory for the Dutch and a brace for Atletico Madrid forward Memphis Depay.
