PIO ESPOSITO BAGS BRACE AS ITALY COME FROM GOAL DOWN TO BEAT FRANCE 3-1 @ HOME IN NATIONS LEAGUE GROUP A1 FIXTURES

France suffered their first defeat under Zinedine Zidane as they were beaten 3-1 by Italy at the San Siro in the Nations League.

Les Bleus took the lead when Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma passed the ball straight to Michael Olise, who beat a couple of defenders before firing in.

But Roberto Mancini’s hosts were level with Pio Esposito’s clever near-post finish from Nicolo Cambiaghi’s ball.

Sebastiano Esposito missed a penalty for Italy before Davide Frattesi lashed in a second after being picked out by Federico Dimarco.

The Azzurri won another penalty, which Pio Esposito took and scored for his second goal.

The 21-year-old Inter Milan striker has scored nine goals in his first 14 caps.

The game marked the first time Italy had beaten France in a home game since 1962.

Former France captain and ex-Real Madrid boss Zidane replaced Didier Deschamps after the World Cup and had led them to three wins and a draw.

Italy are now top of Group A1, above France because of a better head-to-head record.

The pair are on 10 points, one above Belgium – who came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 earlier.

The top two will go into the quarter-finals. Sunday’s final group games see Belgium host Italy and France at home to Turkey.

Kesh Awefada

Kesh Awefada

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