Red-Hot Mbappe fires France to WC quarter-finals
by Kickoff Reporter · KickOffFrance advanced to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over Paraguay in a round of 32 clash in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Fixture: France v Paraguay
Score: 1-0
Goalscorers: Mbappe (70')
Les Bleus’ dominant start from the group stages continued in the round of 32 after cruising past Sweden to reach the last 16, while La Albirroja shocked the masses and eliminated four-time champions Germany albeit in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Manu Kone looked to hit the ground running and give the two-time champions the perfect start in the opening stages of the contest with a smartly taken shot from outside the area having carved out an angle, but the hard-running midfielder slammed wide.
Les Bleus continued to have the better of the chances later on as Jules Kounde managed to move higher up the field to get in a strike from a loose ball around the box, but his effort lacked the necessary power to beat Orlando Gill.
Ousmane Dembele was on the charge too moments later where he came in on the right after picking up a forward pass from Kylian Mbappe to cut-inside to curl into the top corner, but the attempt deflected away from target and behind for a corner-kick.
Second Half:
France still enjoyed the lion share of momentum in the second half and a powerful long-range strike by Kone on the far side forced Gill to move across his area to produce a stern save in the opening 45 minutes.
Having the better of the overall play, coach Didier Deschamps upped the ante inside the 61st minute and hauled Desire Doue in off the substitutes bench, with his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Bradley Barcola sacrificed.
The decision proved a master-stroke eight minutes kater when Doue showed tremendous quick feet on the ball out wide to cut-inside the box before going down under a challenge from Diego Gomez to earn his side a penalty, allowing Mbappe to step forward and make it 1-0.
Paraguay looked to restore parity in the final minutes with a point-blank effort by Mauricio Prado from a flick-on by Matias Galarza following smart forward play, but goalkeeper Mike Maignan kept him out
Mbappe was denied a brace deep in the additional time when he burst through on goal from a through pass for a smart finish, but Gill held firm and produced a double save to smother the Real Madrid star as Les Bleus sealed the win and quarter-final date with Morocco on Thursday.