Football: Lacazette on target in France victory

Football: Lacazette on target in France victory
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Summary France registered a 2-0 win over Denmark in friendly in Saint-Etienne on Sunday.

SAINT-ETIENNE (AFP) - Alexandre Lacazette scored his first international goal to set France on the way to a 2-0 friendly victory over Denmark in Saint-Etienne on Sunday evening.

The Lyon striker set the ball rolling in the 14th minute and Arsenal s Olivier Giroud added another before half-time as Les Bleus bounced back from their 3-1 defeat to Brazil at the Stade de France last Thursday.

Coach Didier Deschamps made eight changes to his starting line-up from that game, with Raphael Varane, Morgan Schneiderlin and Antoine Griezmann the only players to keep their places.

Young Real Madrid defender Varane wore the captain s armband in the continued absence of the injured Hugo Lloris, while Saint-Etienne s Stephane Ruffier was handed a start in goal in front of his home fans.

The bitter rivalry between Saint-Etienne and Lyon ensured that the crowd at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard gave Lacazette and his OL teammate Christophe Jallet a hostile reception, but the former overcame that to open the scoring.

When Griezmann s effort was blocked by Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Lacazette -- the leading scorer in Ligue 1 this season with 23 goals -- lashed home the loose ball to open his international account on his sixth cap.

The Euro 2016 hosts continued to press and Dimitri Payet curled a shot just wide before the second goal arrived seven minutes prior to the interval.

Monaco midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia drove towards the Danish penalty area and set up Giroud -- with 37 caps the most experienced member of the French starting line-up -- to beat Schmeichel with a low left-foot finish.

That was the end of the scoring, although the visitors should have equalised just before the break, but Nicklas Bendtner, who netted a hat-trick in last week s friendly win against the United States, headed against the right post from close range.

Christian Eriksen saw his long-range effort saved by Ruffier in the second half as the goalkeeper marked a rare international start with a clean sheet.

France are next in action on June 7 when they host Belgium at the Stade de France before travelling to Albania six days later.

Denmark currently sit second in Euro 2016 qualifying Group I behind Portugal halfway through the campaign, with their next match at home to Serbia in June.
 

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