Zinedine Zidane had to settle for a draw in his first home game as France coach as Italy held Les Bleus 1-1 in the Nations League on Saturday.
Michael Olise gave France the lead in the 55th minute at the Stade de France. Rayan Cherki played a short free kick before Olise curled his effort in off the crossbar. Italy responded midway through the second half. Poor defending gave Alessandro Bastoni space to move forward and the defender found the bottom corner to make it 1-1.
Italy had an early chance through Moise Kean, but he fired straight at Mike Maignan from close range. Gianluigi Donnarumma was much busier at the other end. He made a double save to deny Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue early in the second half.
The Italy goalkeeper then produced another fine stop against Adrien Rabiot shortly after Bastoni’s equaliser. France finished the game with 10 men after Dayot Upamecano received his second yellow card late on.
The hosts still pushed for a winner. Eduardo Camavinga went close in stoppage time, but Donnarumma made another save to secure a point for Italy.
“We would have liked to win for our fans tonight but I was obviously really touched and delighted to be back at the Stade de France,” Zidane said.
“I am happy with the performance albeit not with the result. We had chances to score a second goal and we didn’t do it. But I am really proud of my players.”
Italy coach Roberto Mancini was also pleased with his team’s display.
“I think this was a great performance tonight against one of the best teams in the world, with very positive aspects to it,” Mancini said.
“We are on the right road, and we need to keep playing this way.”
France remain top of Group A1, one point ahead of Belgium after they beat Turkey 3-0 in Liege.
