The French football players have started the European Championship in England excellently. The team of national coach Corinne Diacre won 5-1 against Italy on Sunday thanks to a strong first half.
France was already leading 2-0 in Rotherham after twelve minutes. Grace Geyoro opened the score in the ninth minute with a fluent attack.
Shortly after, Marie-Antoinette Katoto doubled the margin from a rebound. The striker was close to her second goal a few minutes later, but this time she headed the post.
France kept chasing more goals in the first half, but the 3-0 fell only in the 39th minute. The goal was scored by Delphine Cascarino, who scored nicely from a distance.
Then things went fast and Geyoro scored twice more before half time. The midfielder outplayed Italian keeper Laura Giuliani in the fortieth minute and completed her hat-trick five minutes later.
Grace Geyoro was the celebrated woman in France with a hat trick.
Grace Geyoro was the celebrated woman in France with a hat trick. Photo: Getty Images
Substitute Piemonte saves honor for Italy
With that, the game was over, so there was little to do in the second half. After more than an hour of play, Sara Gama was shown red by Italy, but that decision was reversed after the intervention of VAR. Gama was allowed to stand and was given a yellow card.
Less than fifteen minutes before the end, Martina Piemonte saved the honor for Italy. The attacker, who was only on the field for three minutes, hit the target and made it 5-1. That was also the final score at the New York Stadium.
Thanks to the win, France is leading in group D. Earlier in the day, Belgium and Iceland drew 1-1 in this group. On Thursday, France-Belgium and Italy-Iceland are the next games in this group.