France 4-1 Scotland: Benjamin Pavard brace helps the French ease past Scotland, after being one goal down from Gilmour’s opener

A star-studded French line-up boasting the likes of Mbappe, Pavard eased past a gutsy Scotland, after a Billy Gilmour opener acted as a boost for former World Champions France to roar back against the Scottish. Although it was a friendly, but France decided to inflict a heavy defeat on a much changed Scotland, who qualified for the European Championships two days earlier.

An early shock by Scotland

Scotland, who has been bolstered by their European qualification few days ago, were buoyed by their uprising, when they secured an early lead through Billy Gilmour, as the youngster pounced upon an inexplicable mistake by Camavinga, as the Real Madrid star’s backward pass helped Billy to slot the ball past Maignan, thus achieving a milestone of his first international goal with the senior squad. But, maybe that early fall served as an enthusiastic wake-up call for the former World champions, who went on to level five minutes later, through Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard. Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann was instrumental in helping the hosts grab the equalizer as his curled-in corner helped Pavard to glance in the header, thus restoring parity in the game.

Pavard registered his name on the scoresheet once again, eight minutes later when he nodded past his second goal, with a sudden pace and delivery burst from PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe, who went past Jack Hendry, before assisting towards former Bayern defender.

Mbappe’s 43rd goal

Kylian Mbappe added a third goal for the French, this time from the spot, as few minutes before half-time, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) judged that Liam Cooper had pulled AC Milan front man Olivier Giroud back, who has recently earned laurels as a makeshift goalkeeper, playing in place of Maignan, on deck. Mbappe slotted the ball past debutant custodian Liam Kelly, thus adding to his tally of 43 international goals in 73 appearances.

Kingsley Coman added a final nail in the coffin for the Scottish, as his miraculous volley past debutant Zander Clark of a rebound from Griezmann’s close-range finish heaped more misery on Scotland, thus gradually losing their way out of victory in the friendly.

Scotland had made major changes in their line-up following their European qualification, with several debuts lined up. These comparatively new Scotland side has had their chances on a regular basis, when Gilmour scored the opener and when Stuart Armstrong’s antics forced Maignan to follow their moves closely. But, they need to bolster their defensive line-up ahead of next month’s fixture against Georgia as they had conceded four goals, which might have been more, had Pavard netted an incredible first half hattrick.