France have surprisingly won their UEFA Nations League group by beating Italy 3-1 at the iconic San Siro Stadium on Sunday night.Les Bleus superbly bounced back from a 3-1 home loss to the same rival and, thanks to a better goal difference, finished Group 2 as the first-placed team.Didier Deschamps’ slot celebrated a deserved victory despite the absence of Kylian Mbappe as Lucas Digne and Adrien Rabiot transformed into genuine heroes and showed how lethal France can be from set pieces.Straight from the start we were shown how good and exciting this European classic would be. Lucas Digne whipped in the first corner of the game in the second minute and former Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot nodded it in from the edge of the six-yard box! Dimarco tried to clear off the line, but couldn’t get there and Italy conceded the fastest goal in official games in more than a decade.Still, that was just a prelude to Digne’s spectacular solo show half an hour later. He launched a free-kick – although everyone thought that Nkunku would be the one to test Vicario – and the ball bounced off the bar, hit Vicario’s back and bounced in.That was the result good enough for Deschamps’ boys to win the group, but there was still plenty of time left on the clock. And Italy did return to the summit thanks to Cambiaso’s goal shortly. Dimarco ran riots on the left flank before crossing it to Cambiaso, who volleyed it with the inside of his left foot to make it 2-1.The see-saw returned to France’s side around the 65th-minute mark after another perfectly executed set-pieces routine. Digne’s free-kick cross found (who else?) Rabiot inside the area and he placed it over Vicario from a good 12 yards. That was the sixth goal in a row Italy conceded from set play, which is the reason Luciano Spalletti is probably scratching his head right now.It could have ended differently, though, as Moise Kean had a clear-cut chance in the dying seconds of the stoppage time, but Maignan managed to deny his close-range effort and provide his side with an important win.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGEDivision AThursday Belgium – Italy 0-1 (0-1)/Tonali 11/France – Israel 0-0Friday Denmark – Spain 1-2 (0-1)/Isaksen 84 – Oyarzabal 15, Perez 58/Portugal – Poland 5-1 (0-0)/Leao 59, Cristiano 72 pen, 87, Bruno 80, Neto 83 – Marczuk 88/Scotland – Croatia 1-0 (0-0)/McGinn 86/Switzerland – Serbia 1-1 (0-0)/Amdouni 78 – Terzic 88/Saturday Germany – B&H 7-0 (3-0)/Musiala 2, Kleindienst 23, 79, Havertz 37, Wirtz 50, 57, Sane 66/Netherlands – Hungary 4-0 (2-0)/Weghorst 21 pen, Gakpo 45+12 pen, Dumfries 64, Koopmeiners 86/Sunday Italy – France 1-3 (1-2)/Cambiaso 35 – Rabiot 2, 65, Digne 33/Israel – Belgium 1-0 (0-0)/Shua 86/ Division BThursday Kazakhstan – Austria 0-2 (0-2)/Baumgartner 15, Gregoritsch 25/Greece – England 0-3 (0-1)/Watkins 7, Vlachodimos 78 og, Jones 83/R.Ireland – Finland 1-0 (1-0)/Ferguson 45/Slovenia – Norway 1-4 (1-2)/Sesko 21 pen – Nusa 4, 59, Haaland 45, Hauge 82/Saturday Georgia – Ukraine 1-1 (0-1)/Mikautadze 76 – Kvirkvelia 7 og/Montenegro – Iceland 0-2 (0-0)/Oskarsson 74, Johanesson 89/Turkey – Wales 0-0Albania – Czech R. 0-0Sunday England – R. Ireland 3-0 (0-0)/Kane 53 pen, Gordon 55, Gallagher 58/Finland – Greece 0-2 (0-0)/Bakasetas 52, Tzolis 56/Austria – Slovenia 1-0 (1-0)/Schmid 27/Norway – Kazakhstan 4-0 (3-0)/Haaland 23, 37, 71, Sorloth 41/
