France come from behind to thrash Belgium 4-1

PARIS, Oct 5 : France came from a goal down to beat Belgium 4-1 in their Nations League Group A1 meeting at the Stade de France on Monday, while Italy secured a 3-1 win over Turkey, their third consecutive match without a loss.

Zinedine Zidane secured his first home win in charge, three days after a 1-1 draw against Italy, thanks to his substitutes.

Belgium's Dodi Lukebakio put the visitors ahead in the 35th minute, but Desire Doue, Rayan Cherki and Michael Olise, all on the bench at kickoff, turned the match on its head in the final 15 minutes.

Doue levelled with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box in the 77th minute. Four minutes later, Cherki put his side in front, finishing from an Olise cross. Olise then completed a brace from close range just before and during stoppage time.

"That's football, that's what we love. There were difficulties, but that's part of the game, part of the kinds of matches you can have," Zidane told TF1.

"It's good to put things right, and that's what we did with an extraordinary second half. We were just missing that final few metres in the first half, but then we turned the match around, it was good."

Belgium took the lead when Lukebakio broke clear of a defence that was stepping up for offside to latch onto a long pass from Romeo Lavia, before scoring in a one-on-one with Guillaume Restes, who was earning his first cap.

The 2018 World Cup winners, playing without captain Kylian Mbappe, controlled possession but failed to create chances against a packed defensive block, making it an eighth consecutive match without scoring in the first half.

Then Olise and Cherki came off the bench on the hour mark, 12 minutes before Doue, and France became more dangerous.

"We played well at the end; in the