European Qualifiers, France 3-0 Andorra: 3 reasons why Les Blues won the matchÂ
France put forth a dominant display against minnows Andorra, beating them 3-0 and moving to the top of Group H. Goals from the in-form Kingsley Coman, Clement Lenglet and Wissam Ben Yedder ensured a fifth win in six qualifier matches for Didier Deschamps' side.
Third-placed Iceland squandered the opportunity to go level on points with Turkey and France, losing 4-2 in a thrilling encounter against Albania. Although that provides some breathing space for Les Blues, the world champions would know that there's no leeway for taking their foot off the pedal in this tightly-contested group.
Although they could have and probably should have inflicted a bigger loss to Andorra in a game that saw them control proceedings in astounding fashion throughout, France recorded yet another disciplined and neat display.
As far as the visitors are concerned, apart from a break away in the 65th minute, they never looked like testing Hugo Lloris in goal. Fortunately for Koldo Alvarez, it didn't turn out to a be a humiliating score line.
Without further ado, we break down three tactical reasons behind France's comprehensive victory against Andorra.
#3 Slew of chances helped gain momentum
France continuously knocked at the Andorra defense throughout the game, not allowing them to breathe even for a moment. It was only a matter of time before the goals started to flow in.
Reset and start was the name of the game, as France constantly began attacks from the middle thirds of the pitch. They saw their first chance of the game when Olivier Giroud's mis-kick fell kindly to Nanitamo Ikone, who almost stumbled home the opener in just the second minute.
The likes of Lucas Digne and Coman enjoyed fine exchanges down the left, before the latter himself got on the end of a well-timed through pass from Ikone and rifled in the first.
The pace of the game did not drop from there; with about 92% possession till the half-hour mark, France looked eager to add a second. Digne had his effort blocked, while Giroud should have got his name on the score sheet in the 25th minute when Andorra failed to clear their lines.
Raphael Varane then joined the party as he launched a fierce strike on goal, only to be denied by the fingertips of Josep Gomes.
Antoine Griezmann, who wasn't involved in the game much early on, missed a second successive penalty in as many games just before the 30-minute mark.
Nonetheless, Deschamps and Co did not allow Andorra to get into the game at all, registering as many as 31 shots on goal. In the process, they built a platform for themselves to exercise their attacking setup and start attacks over and over again.