France-England: Katoto shows the way, the English women have not seen the light of day... The highs and lows of the French women's entry into the Euro

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Katoto got the Blues off to a good start

Olympique Lyonnais striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto helped France take the upper hand over England, despite a difficult first half for Les Bleues. Capable of stringing together runs, she was initially the only French player to keep her head above water in the first half. She notably created one of Les Bleues' first chances of the match (7th minute) before continuing her momentum and leading her team to victory. Very available in the heart of the game, she first provided good support for her teammates (24th minute, 31st minute), before scoring the first goal of the match and putting her teammates on the right track. She gave way to Clara Matéo after a very good performance (61st minute).

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Having already put in a strong performance in the last warm-up match against Brazil, Baltimore did it again this Saturday evening. With several rushes throughout the match, she was able to put herself at the service of the team at first (24th, 22nd) before showing herself more and more offensively (24th, 28th). After a nice breakthrough from Cascarino, she found herself alone in the English box and catapulted the ball into the back of the net to double the lead and give the French team some breathing space. With further differences in the second half, she was able to show her importance to her coach Laurent Bonadei in this early competition. Highly visible, she probably scored points in the minds of the Bleues staff who, as we know, can count on a good depth of bench in her position. She then gave way to Malard (61st).

FLOPS

An English team in the tough

If England is the reigning champion, Lucy Bronze's teammates will have to show a slightly more convincing face if they want to be able to compete with the best teams. Dangerous in the first quarter of an hour, they first saw their first goal disallowed for offside, before completely fading away (16th). Indeed, after this flash, there's not much to remember from this match. So yes, this England team managed to come back into the game at the very end of the match (86th), but this burst of pride is simply the result of a major drop in form on the part of the Blues. In short, England will have to show a different face for the rest of the competition.

A match to forget for the Blues

Although the English didn't show their best face, they could have turned the match at the last moment. Indeed, the Blues gave themselves a big scare at the end of the match, so yes, the result is positive, but Laurent Bonadei's players experienced a huge loss of momentum that could have cost them the victory at the end of the match. Indeed, after a ball lost by Geyoro (90+1), it was goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin who allowed the Blues to keep this result, while a wave of panic was running through the French defense. So yes, the Blues put in a convincing performance, but be careful to keep your cool at the end of the match....