England succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Didier Deschamp’s France on Tuesday night at the Stade de France.
Harry Kane had opened the scoring for Gareth Southgate’s traveling team on 9 minutes with a cool finish following some brilliant build up play by Raheem Sterling and Ryan Bertrand down the left flank, however the lead was short lived as Samuel Umtiti levelled on past past 20 minutes.
The hosts then took the lead just before half time as another of Les Bleu’s back four – Djibril Sidibe – pounced upon a good save from Tom Heaton after Ousmane Dembele’s effort to make it 2-1.
Drama ensued early into the second half as Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane was sent off for a clumsy challenge in the penalty box on Dele Alli to give Harry Kane the chance to level from the spot, which the Englishman did as he hammered the ball straight down the middle and past Hugo Lloris in the France net.
The Three Lions were unable to capitalise on their one man advantage however, and were made to pay as Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele combned brilliantly, with the latter of the impressive trio sliding the ball into the far post to give France the victory.
Despite the loss, there were many positives for Gareth Southgate’s squad, including the cameo from West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell, who was back in the side after having struggled with injury of the past year.
Coming on in the 80th minute with the game all but over, Hammers fans were not only pleased to see their number 3 grace the field for England again, but were also impressed with his albeit short contribution.
https://twitter.com/NKchez/status/874740209732157443
https://twitter.com/jerseryhammers/status/874743866905296896
https://twitter.com/JoanneSargood/status/874899023169245184
Congratulations to @Aaron_Cresswell on his second cap for @England should of been on early!⚒
— Adam Dyer (@Dyer1Adam) June 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Jack_Smail/status/874734566384259075
@Aaron_Cresswell should of started in fairness, would love to see him more than 10 mins in an England shirt
— ⚒ iron jay ⚒ (@ironshants) June 13, 2017
I know it wasn't for too long but I thought Aaron Cresswell played quite well considering the amount of time he played…
— Billy Boylan (@billyboylan5) June 13, 2017
Looks like @Aaron_Cresswell needed earlier he played well since he came on
— Shaun Dobbs ⚒🫧 (@ShaunDobbs1) June 13, 2017
