Chelsea's new signing helps France beat Spain

Loic Remy's only goal gave "Les Bleus" a 1-0 victory at home in Paris, extending their opponents' disappointing run of results.

The decisive goal of the match came in the 72nd minute, when Remy received a pass from Mathieu Valbuena and quickly finished from 18 meters away, leaving goalkeeper De Gea helpless.

The goal against Spain was the perfect introduction for Remy (number 20), the striker who just joined Chelsea from QPR for $17.3 million on September 1. Photo: AS.

Although they had to wait until the end of the match to score, this was a deserved victory for the French team. The team under coach Didier Deschamps showed some of the qualities that helped them reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup, where "Les Bleus" only stopped before Germany, who later won the championship.

Spain still look to be reeling from the shock of their group stage exit as defending world champions at the World Cup in the summer. They have lacked creativity in midfield, with two of their most important players from their 2008-2012 golden period, Xabi Alonso and Xavi, having retired from international football.

In addition to the absence of Iniesta - another key player in the 2008-2012 period - due to injury, the five-man midfield in Spain's 4-1-4-1 formation was completely outclassed by the French midfield trio, where coach Deschamps fully exploited the physical advantages, fierce fighting spirit and very effective ball recovery ability of the duo Paul Pogba - Moussa Sissoko, alongside a very mobile Matuidi.

Up front Diego Costa has shown no signs of the killer instinct he has shown for Chelsea. Instead, the $53 million striker continued his poor form during Spain's brief and nightmare trip to Brazil this summer. The visitors failed to muster a single shot on target in Paris yesterday.

Spain's inferiority also comes from coach Del Bosque's policy of renewing the team. But except for De Gea who plays well in goal, the former reserve players (Koke, Azpilicueta) or the new players (Raul Garcia, Carvajal, San Jose) have not been able to immediately achieve the desired results when filling the gaps left by the pillars.

The loss to France was Spain's third defeat in four recent matches (in red). At the 2014 World Cup, they lost to the Netherlands and Chile, before beating Australia in the final round. Photo: EFE.

France, meanwhile, played better, retaining the same core that helped them reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup. The starting XI Deschamps used yesterday featured just one change from the quarter-final defeat to Germany in Brazil, with Sissoko coming in for Cabaye. France went on the attack, setting the tempo from the start and repeatedly forcing De Gea to show his skills, with three saves from Benzema and another from Pogba.

Spain had only one significant move in a poor first half, with Fabregas' shot hitting a defender and going over the bar. Del Bosque's changes after the break - bringing on Iturraspe, Silva, Pedro and new striker Alacer - were ineffective.

France continued to dominate the game and should have opened the scoring in the 50th minute when Sissoko set up Benzema to put the ball into De Gea's net. But the referee disallowed the goal despite replays showing that Benzema was not offside. France then had another good chance to score, but Valbuena shot wide from a good position in the 64th minute.

Benzema had a valid goal denied. Photo: AFP.

But the home team's advantage finally paid off in the 72nd minute. Remy, who replaced Griezmann in the 58th minute, was in the right place at the right time to receive the ball after a good combination between Benzema, Pogba and Valbuena and then finished accurately, opening the score.

This act of defiance made the match much more exciting as Spain responded very positively. Azpilicueta twice put the ball in very dangerously, but Silva and Alacer were both a beat too late to threaten the home goal. Silva, with his technique and tricky dribbling, often got past the home defense, but he was once again unlucky in the 81st minute when he sent the ball just wide of the post, missing a good chance to equalize for Spain.

Spain will begin their Euro 2018 qualifying campaign next Monday, hosting Macedonia at Valencia. France, as the hosts of the finals, are exempt from the qualifying round. This Sunday, September 7, Deschamps and his team will travel to Belgrade to play a friendly against Serbia.

Line-up:

France: Lloris - Debuchy, Varane, Sakho, Evra (Digne 67) - Pogba, Matuidi (Cabaye 67), Sissoko (Schneiderlin 77) - Valbuena (Cabella 77), Benzema, Griezmann (Remy 58).

Spain: De Gea - Carvajal, Ramos, San Jose, Azpilicueta - Busquets (Iturraspe 46) - Koke, Raul Garcia (Silva 58), Fabregas (Pedro 67), Cazorla (Isco 77) - Diego Costa (Alcacer 67)

Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)

According to VnExpress