Libaax-Sankataabte Posted November 19, 2013 72′ Goal Mamadou Sakho 69′ Yellow Card Mathieu Debuchy 69′ Ohhhh that's a terribly late challenge from Debuchy! The Newcastle man goes in with the studs high on Konoplyanka and goes into the book for his trouble. A lot of challenges flying in now! 67′ Yellow Card Patrice Evra 67′ A break in play at the moment as Evra goes in late on Yarmolenko. It wasn't a particularly vicious challenge, but it was late, and out of control. The Dynamo Kyiv man is down and looks in pain. 65′ Ukraine finally make the tactical change required as Roman Bezus is replaced by 30-year-old full back, Oleh Husyev. 64′ Substitution Roman Bezus Oleh Husyev 64′ Riberyyyyy!!! Just over AGAIN! The longer this match goes on the longer the French fans in the stands will get nervous, and no shots seem to be going in for the hosts at the moment! 62′ Benzema looks to latch on to a pass over the top of the Ukraine defence but Mandzyuk recovers well after bursting a gut to get back and take ball off the toe of the Frenchman. 60′ 30 minutes to go here in this World Cup play-off. We are currently drawing at 2-2 on aggregate but the momentum is certainly with the hosts, who continue to press forward. 58′ Benzema!! Just wide! The latest France attack sees three or four players flooding forward and the ball eventually come to the Real Madrid man. He looks to find the bottom corner but his attempt nestles into the side-netting! 56′ It's been all France since that sending off for Khacheridi. Two goals down and a man down against a team with the talent of Les Bleus will be difficult for the Ukrainians to resist! 54′ Cabayeeee!!! Unlucky! The ball breaks to the Newcastle man just outside the box and he looks to smash the ball towards goal on the half volley, but the ball bounces up awkwardly and the strike is dragged wide. 52′ Ribery makes a fantastic run through the middle and eventually breaks left before hitting the byline. He cuts the ball back to Valbuena who curls a cross towards Benzema but Ukraine smuggle the ball out of the box! 50′ Interestingly, no changes yet from Mykhaylo Fomenko. It was only a few minutes ago that Khacheridi saw red but they'll have to reshuffle themselves defensively or France will run over the top of them. 49′ BEZUUUUUSSSS!!! UNLUCKY!! The ball breaks to the Dynamo Kyiv man 25 yards out and he drills a strike towards the left corner that flashes just wide of the post! Lloris was certainly scrambling across! 48′ A sickener for Ukraine! This task just got a hell of a lot more difficult! 47′ Yellow/Red Yevhen Khacheridi 47′ Khacheridi is sent off for Ukraine!!! The 26-year-old sees yellow for the second time as he horribly scythes down Ribery down the left-hand side! 46′ We are back under way! 45 minutes to decide who is going to Brazil! Don't forget folks, no team has ever come back from a two-goal deficit from the first leg in a World Cup play-off to go on and head to the tournament. Are France about to make history or will Ukraine hold on? Half time in Paris. Mahamadou Sakho opened the scoring for France with a lashes close range finish and Karim Benzema netted the second from an offside position after previously seeing a goal wrongly ruled as offside. There will certainly be a spotlight on the officials after this one! We enter the break at 2-2 on aggregate, perfectly poised! 45′ Yellow Card Mamadou Sakho 45′ Yellow Card Yevhen Khacheridi 44′ Khacheridi and Sakho both go into the book as they get into a slight scuffle during the build-up to a corner kick. They'll both have to be careful now, both rather explosive personalities! 43′ In an almost carbon copy of the previous challenge, Bezus and Cabaye collide and the Newcastle but naughtily leaves the boot in slightly. Bezus is down again and Ukraine get the free kick. 41′ Both sides are guilty of surrendering possession far too easy at the moment here. Short passes are being intercepted, and it is interrupting the flow of the play. 39′ There's a break in play at the moment as Bezus is currently down injured after a nasty collision with Cabaye. It was the Ukrainians tackle, but he's come off the worst, and he's suffering the wrath of the French fans as they boo him. 37′ France wont care though, and they are now massive favourites to progress to the World Cup. One goal from Ukraine though, and it is a totally different story. 36′ Now Benzema previously had a goal that was flagged as offside when he was on, but should that excuse such a terrible decision? Should referees be excused if their decisions even themselves out? 35′ Dear oh dear, that goal was A MILE OFFSIDE! 34′ Assist Mathieu Valbuena 34′ Goal Karim Benzema GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLL FOR FRANCE!!! THEY'VE LEVELED THE TIE!! A scramble inside the box sees the ball bounce fortuitously off Valbuena before falling to the feet of Benzema, who smashes home from a few yards out! 2-0! 33′ What a save from Pyatov!!! The ball comes to Valbuena 18 yards out and he rifles a strike towards goal that looks destined for the top corner, but the Ukraine 'keeper somehow gets up to tip the strike over the bar! 31′ There wasn't much in that at all! 30′ GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL FOR FRANCE!! WAIT! NO! OFFSIDE!! Ribery lashes a cross along the goal and the ball comes to Benzema at the back post who scrambles it on, but the linesman flags! 28′ Bezus is looking for a penalty! He shifts the ball back on to his right foot inside the box but goes down under the challenge of Debuchy! France are let off the hook though as the official only whistles for a corner. Looked like it would have been a harsh decision! 26′ Pogbaaaaaaaa!!! How close was that?! The 20-year-old drives forward through the middle and has a crack at goal from 20 yards, but his attempt whistles past Pyatov and strips the paint off the top of the bar! Inches! 25′ Valbuena whips in another wicked set-piece but on this occasion the Ukrainians manage to scramble the ball away! The Marseille man's delivery has been top drawer so far tonight! 24′ Ribery bursts down the left-hand side and drifts past a couple of challenges before looking to dink the ball to the back post. The cross comes off a Ukraine defender though, and France get the corner. 23′ What a celebration! The stadium exploded with cheers! 22′ Goal Mamadou Sakho GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLL FOR FRANCE!! THEY MAKE THE BREAK THROUGH!! A superb cross into the box from Valbuena is cleared to the edge of the box but Pyatov is forced into a superb save as a shot comes back in towards the bottom corner! But Sakho was on hand to lash the ball into the corner from the rebound! 1-0! 20′ The ball breaks to Edmar on the edge of the area and he looks to spray a pass to the right wing for Yarmolenko but there was just too much on it and France get the throw in. 19′ The visiting nation are just starting to edge their way back into contention here. Les Bleus were dominant in the opening stages but failed to capitalise on their flurry of chances. Will they regret that come 90 minutes? 17′ Superb work by Konoplyanka down the left-hand side as he shows Debuchy a clean pair of heels before out-muscling him and earning a corner kick. Set-pieces like this will be vital tonight for Ukraine tonight, you would feel. 15′ In fact, the boos are absolutely deafening as Yarmolenko goes down with an injury inside the France half. The fans they he's play-acting, but it looked pretty legitimate! The Dynamo Kyiv man should be fine though! 14′ Fair play to the French fans though, they are relentlessly booing the Ukraine players whenever they are in possession, and passionately cheering their players when any attack is looking likely! 12′ All the play has gone through the hosts so far. This is exactly the kind of attitude that Deschamps would have wanted from his players, but is it a few days too late? 10′ BENZEMA!!!! FRANCE ARE PILING ON THE PRESSURE EARLY DOORS HERE! The striker is the latest to have a pop, and again it's with a header. The attempt didn't pose to much of a threat to Pyatov this time, though! 9′ POGBA!!!! NEARLY, NEARLY!! A corner kick is floated in from the right-hand side and the Juventus youngster bullets a header at goal, but his attempt goes just north of the bar! 7′ Yellow Card Ruslan Rotan 7′ It's only seven minutes into the match but already Ribery has come in for some harsh attention from the Ukraine players. Rotan earns the first booking of the match for bundling the Bayern Munich man over with authority. 3′ tI really is an electric atmosphere in Paris tonight! So much on the line! 1′ We are under way in this World Cup play-off! The national anthems are passionately belted out by each set of supporters in the Stade de France! Taking all the factors into account; this promises to be one supremely entertaining contest! However, Ukraine are no strangers to disappointment at this stage of qualifying. Play-off defeats to Croatia, Germany and Greece stopped them reaching the World Cup in 1998, 2002 and 2010. Les Bleus' key man tonight is undoubtedly Balln d'OR nominee Franck Ribery, who has scored four goals in his last three international matches. France coach Didier Deschamps knows all too well about the heartache of failure to qualify for the tournament at this stage. The former France captain was part of the team who lost 2-1 to Bulgaria at Parc des Princes in November 1993, a result which halted a trip to the USA for the 1994 World Cup. Ukraine (4-2-3-1): Pyatov; Mandzyuk, Khacheridi, Rakitsky, Shevchuk; Bezus, Rotan; Yarmolenko, Edmar, Konoplyanka, Zozulya. France (4-3-3): Lloris; Debuchy, Sakho, Varane, Evra; Matuidi, Cabaye, Pogba; Ribery, Benzema, Valbuena. TEAM NEWS. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Libaax-Sankataabte Posted November 19, 2013 Off to Brazil!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
