France and Germany had stand-in forwards to thank for wins over fierce rivals in the Nations League on Monday.
With Kylian Mbappé again absent, Randal Kolo Muani started up front for France and scored in each half in a 2-1 victory away to neighbor Belgium.
The Belgians must be sick of the sight of Kolo Muani, who also netted in a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture in Lyon last month. It was also the Paris Saint-Germain striker’s shot that deflected into the net when France beat Belgium 1-0 in the last 16 at the European Championship during the summer.
On his debut for Germany, Jamie Leweling had a second-minute strike ruled out after a video review but had more luck with a rasping drive in the 64th to seal a 1-0 triumph over the Netherlands in Munich.
Leweling, a forward for Stuttgart, was one of four players making their first starts for Germany on a night fans paid tribute to four players — Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Ilkay Gundogan — who recently retired from national-team duty. Neuer, Muller and Gundogan were at Allianz Arena to receive the acclaim of Germany fans.
There were also victories for Italy, which beat Israel 4-1, and Hungary, a 2-0 winner in Bosnia, in the top-tier League A.
With two group games remaining in November, France, Italy and Germany all stand on the verge of clinching a top-two finish and spots in the quarterfinals.
France holds on
France was forced to hang on to preserve its third win in four group matches after Aurélien Tchouaméni, its captain in the absence of Mbappé, was shown a second yellow card in the 76th for tripping Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Tielemans had earlier lifted a penalty kick over the bar in the 23rd, only for Kolo Muani to convert his own spot kick after Wout Faes was penalized for handball after falling to the ground attempting to challenge Bradley Barcola.
Loïs Openda headed in the equalizer from Timothy Castagne’s cross, with the goal initially ruled out for offside but awarded after VAR check.
Kolo Muani, who has started only two games for PSG this season, grabbed the winner in the 62nd in Brussels by heading in Lucas Digne’s left-wing cross.
New era
It felt like a new era for Germany, with Neuer, Muller and Gundogan all given a fond farewell before the game. Together with Kroos, who wasn’t there in person due to commitments at his youth academy, the four players won more than 450 caps for Germany.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann is bringing through younger players, with Aleksandar Pavlovic, 20, and Angelo Stiller, 23, handed first starts and the 23-year-old Leweling making his debut in place of the injured Deniz Undav. At the other end of the age scale, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann became the third oldest debutant for Germany — at 34 years, 134 days — having been on the bench 26 times.
Baumann produced a brilliant flying save to deny Netherlands substitute Donyell Malen and keep a clean sheet, ensuring the Oranje’s 13-match unbeaten streak in the group stage of the Nations League came to an end.
Germany is on 10 points from four games, five more than both the Dutch and Hungary.
High alert
Stringent security measures, including armed military personnel on the roof of the 25,000-seater stadium in Udine, were in place as Italy hosted an Israel team playing its first match outside neutral Hungary this year. It came amid Israel’s ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has spread to Lebanon after more than a year-long war with Hamas in Gaza.
Mateo Retegui — from the penalty spot — scored the opener for Italy, which had further goals by Giovanni Di Lorenzo (2) and Davide Frattesi as well as a debut for Daniel Maldini, the son of AC Milan great Paolo Maldini.
Around 1,000 people took part in a pro-Palestine demonstration in the city center before the match. Areas around the stadium were blocked off 48 hours before kickoff and declared a “red zone,” while hundreds of extra police officers were called up from surrounding areas.
Italy is in the same group as France and leads by one point. Belgium is third, five points behind France, while Israel has lost all four games.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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