DONETSK — France and England fought out a 1-1 draw last night in their Uefa Euro 2012 Group D match.
England had opened the scoring in the 30th minute when Joleon Lescott rose brilliantly to meet captain Steven Gerrard’s perfectly-delivered freekick on the half hour mark and give Hugo Lloris no chance.
The French went close to drawing level in the 35th minute as midfielder Alou Diarra’s header was goalbound but England ‘keeper Joe Hart pulled off a brilliant reaction save.
However, the French did equalise in the 39th minute as Samir Nasri fired in a right-footed shot from just outside the area to beat his Manchester City clubmate Joe Hart, who dived late perhaps having been unsighted. Nasri celebrated in rather bizarre fashion running towards the dugouts holding a finger to his lips and then mouthing to an unidentified target ‘shut your mouth’.
France had come into the match on a 21-game unbeaten run but searching for their first win in a group match at a finals since beating Togo in the 2006 World Cup.
England went agonisingly close after 15 minutes when James Milner latched onto Ashley Young’s pass and rounded Hugo Lloris, but he then slipped slightly as he shot and could only steer the ball wide of the unguarded net.
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Nasri had shot wide just before that chance and Yohan Cabaye was the next Frenchman to try his luck but Joe Hart got down well to keep out his shot. And England then got the breakthrough on the half-hour when Gerrard whipped over a lovely free-kick from the right and Lescott got in behind Alou Diarra to head home from close range.
France almost responded quickly but Hart did well to keep out a thumping header from Diarra, who then nodded wide when the ball came back into the middle. But the French did level when Franck Ribery laid the ball back to Nasri (39) and his precise shot from just outside the area sneaked inside Hart’s right-hand post.
The second-half began fairly quietly until Karim Benzema tested Hart with a powerful shot from distance and Glen Johnson blazed an effort over the bar soon afterwards.