France beat Belgium 1-0 thanks to Michael Olise’s winner, while Italy beati Turkey 4-1 in the UEFA Nations League.
The two results gave France early control of Group A1 and provided Italy with their first win of Roberto Mancini’s second spell in charge.
Olise delivers late France winner against Belgium.
Michael Olise came off the bench to produce the decisive moment as France beat Belgium 1-0 and extended their winning run in this fixture to six matches.
France started strongly after a brief delay before kick-off, with Brandon Mechele seeing an early header blocked. The hosts then began to control possession, with debutant Lucas Da Cunha helping France dictate the tempo.
Desire Doue came closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening stages when he brilliantly worked his way into the Belgian penalty area before seeing his shot crash against the crossbar.
Belgium remained dangerous, with Kevin De Bruyne trying his luck from near the halfway line after Eduardo Camavinga had seen an effort blocked.
France almost took the lead before half-time when Senne Lammens saved Maghnes Akliouche’s free-kick and then denied Esteban Lepaul from the rebound. Romeo Lavia completed the defensive work by clearing Pierre Kalulu’s effort off the line.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with France creating the better chances.
Doue curled an effort narrowly wide before Da Cunha came even closer, striking the post with an excellent long-range effort. Lammens continued to frustrate France, while Youri Tielemans blocked another Akliouche attempt.
Belgium threatened late on as Dodi Lukebakio twice tested Mike Maignan, but the France goalkeeper stood firm.
With the match heading towards a goalless draw, Olise produced the breakthrough in the 88th minute. The substitute carried the ball forward with purpose before calmly slotting his shot into the bottom corner.
The victory leaves France as the outright leaders of Group A1 after two matches, while Belgium’s six-match unbeaten home run came to an end.
Italy hit four as Esposito brothers make history.
Italy responded to their previous defeat in emphatic fashion, beating Turkey 4-1 as brothers Pio and Sebastiano Esposito featured together for the first time.
Pio Esposito almost marked the occasion with an early goal, but Altay Bayindir produced an excellent save.
Turkey were unable to survive the resulting corner, however. Zeki Celik failed to clear the ball, and Alessandro Bastoni reacted quickest, firing into the roof of the net to put Italy ahead.
Italy soon took control, and their passing was causing major problems for the Turkish defence.
A slick one-touch move opened the way for Michael Kayode, whose shot was saved by Bayindir, but Davide Frattesi followed up to score from close range.
Italy struck again five minutes later. Pio Esposito moved the ball to Kayode, who finished with a low shot to mark his international debut with a goal.
Turkey improved after the break and reduced the deficit when Oguz Aydin found Baris Yilmaz, who finished from close range.
Their hopes of a comeback lasted only a few minutes.
Sandro Tonali struck the post with a curling effort, and Pio Esposito reacted quickest to head in the rebound and restore Italy’s three-goal advantage.
Turkey continued to create opportunities and had the ball in the net again through Yilmaz, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Kerem Akturkoglu and Arda Guler both had late opportunities, but Italy held firm to complete a convincing victory.
The result gave Italy their first win of Mancini’s second spell in charge and maintained their unbeaten record against Turkey after 14 meetings. Turkey, meanwhile, have now lost four of their last five competitive matches.
