France and Germany had stand-in forwards to thank for wins over fierce rivals in the Nations League.
With Kylian Mbappe again absent, Randal Kolo Muani started up front for France and scored a goal in each half in a 2-1 victory away to Belgium on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
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.
On his debut for Germany, Jamie Leweling had a second-minute strike ruled out after a video review, but he had more luck with a rasping drive in the 64th minute 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, who beat Israel 4-1, and Hungary, 2-0 winners in Bosnia.
In other results, Hungary beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0, Albania pipped Georgia 1-0, Turkey won a high-scoring encounter against Iceland 4-2, and Wales beat Montenegro 1-0.
Ukraine and the Czech Republic shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, Slovakia won their away clash with Azerbaijan 3-1, and Sweden notched a 3-0 win over hosts Estonia.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/france-germany-beat-fierce-rivals-in-nations-league-c-16396000
