Match Review (QF): France v. Uruguay

France v Uruguay
Score: 2-0
Goals: Varane 40', Griezmann 61'
Possession: 57-43
Shots: 14-14
Man of the match: Griezmann (1G, 1A)

In a very professional victory, France took down two time World Cup champions Uruguay, in Novgorod. The match started off with Uruguay looking like the better side. They created two very solid chances within the first 15' minutes. The first chance for the Uruguayans fell to Edinson Cavani's replacement Christian Stuani. Stuani received the ball on the edge of the box and burst into the box. He created enough space for the shot, but his ensuing shot went just wide. The second chance for the Uruguayans came from a corner. The ball was swung in and found the head of Jose Maria Gimenez whose header landed in between Lloris and Luis Suarez. Lloris was very quick and hit a diving punch which cleared the France net of any danger. This seemed to wake up France who from then on out took control of the match. They started controlling possession and limiting unforced errors in defense and midfield. They created their first chance when a cross was played towards Olivier Giroud who headed the ball across to teenage star Kylian Mbappe. Who had a free header from about six yards out which he blazed over the bar. France continued their momentum and not too long after that chance they opened the scoring. The French won a free kick which was in a very favorable position for star man Antoine Griezmann to whip into the box. And he did what everyone thought serving in a perfect ball right to the head of center half Raphael Varane. The Real Madrid man glanced the ball towards the far post and gave France a 1-0 advantage. Uruguay though had an immediate response. Only three minutes later were Uruguay awarded a corner kick. The corner was put in and found the head of Full Back Martin Caceres who directed his header right into the bottom corner. But Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris pulled out an unbelievable diving stop defying laws of physics. Godin's follow up from the save was blasted into the last row of the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium and kept the match at 1-0. This seemed to demoralize the Uruguayans who did not look like the same team at all in the second half. Barely any chances were created for either side and to be honest, it was a quite boring second half. France though did double their advantage in the 61' minute. It came from a knuckling strike from Antoine Griezmann. The ball ended up knuckling right towards Muslera who palmed the ball into his own net. It was definitely a moment the Galatasaray keeper will want to forget. Apart from a scuffle between Christian Rodriguez and Mbappe that was all she wrote and France progressed to the Semi's to face Belgium.