Russia 1 France 3: Kylian Mbappe scores double and Paul Pogba nets stunning free-kick as Les Bleus win in St Petersburg
Pogba sent a message back to Old Trafford reminding Jose Mourinho he is still the man with a goal dedicated to his late father
PAUL POGBA reminded Jose Mourinho he is still the main man as he helped France cruise past Russia in St Petersburg.
The troubled Manchester United star scored a stunning free-kick in between a Kylian Mbappe double.
Granted, it was only a friendly but Didier Deschamp’s side had to bounce back after throwing away a two-goal lead to lose to Colombia in Paris last week.
And it was the Russians who should have opened the scoring early on when Fyodor Smolov raced through on goal, but his low shot was straight at Hugo Lloris.
The French sprung to life with Pogba pulling the strings in midfield as the speedy threesome of Anthony Martial, Ousmane Dembele and Mbappe causing problems for the home side.
And it was the PSG kid who broke the deadlock thanks to a defence-splitting pass from Pogba.
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Mbappe breached the Russian defence, drove into the box and smartly finished inside keeper Andrey Lunev’s near post for his second international strike.
France could have doubled their lead just before the break as Mbappe backed up the Russians again and his pull back was met by Martial who forced a smart save from Lunev.
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Pogba doubled France's lead just after the interval with a beauty.
The £89million man shrugged off his Old Trafford blues with a brilliant 30-yard free-kick to bag his ninth goal for his country and fire a message back to Mourinho ahead of Saturday's game against Swansea.
Pogba dedicated his goal to his late father by revealing a shirt reading: "Happy birthday Papa."
Fassou Antoine, who passed away in May, would have been celebrating his 80th birthday today.
Vladamir Granat spurned a chance to drag the World Cup hosts back into it when he blazed his close-range shot wide when it was easier to score.
Smolov finally pulled one back when he latched on to substitute Igor Smolinkov's pin-point cross.
But Mbappe finished it late on when he again caused havoc in the box and his low shot squeezed through Lunev.