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As magnificent Mbappe bounces back from horror penalty miss to set another record
Somehow echoing the ghosts of their high-stakes Qatar 2022 World Cup semi-final clash, France on Thursday night eased into the semi-finals of this year’s El-Mundial by seeing off hard-fighting Morocco in their quarter-final encounter decided inside Boston Stadium in Massachusetts, the United States.
Predictably, Kylian Mbappé stole the spotlight in a decisive 2-0 triumph for Les Bleus that once again shattered the North Africans hearts. The Real Madrid forward easily erased the memory of a dismal first-half penalty miss by scoring a sublime solo goal and engineering a brilliant assist for Ousmane Dembélé to spark a dominant victory for France.
Didier Deschamps’ French juggernaut completely dictated the tempo of a breathless first 45 minutes with absolute authority, though their ultimate chance to strike first was agonizingly squandered by their talisman.
Meanwhile, Morocco found themselves entirely on the back foot, rarely threatening the French defensive third. The tone was set in just the fourth minute when Mbappé’s low strike deflected narrowly wide, closely followed by a Dayot Upamecano’s close-range header that forced a brilliant save from the resulting corner.
The half’s major defining moment came when Mbappé left Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui grasping at air with a slick step-over, resulting in a clear foul by the Manchester United defender. But the high-stakes drama ended in anti-climax; following a tense three-minute VAR review, France’s main man produced a timid spot-kick that drifted harmlessly into goalkeeper Bono’s welcoming embrace.
However, the match crackled with tension as Les Bleus unleashed a furious assault from distance just before the interval! In a heart-stopping sequence, Ayyoub Bouaddi was ruthlessly dispossessed, allowing the explosive Désiré Doué to switch gears, burst into enemy territory, and sting the palms of a diving Bono.
Minutes later, deep into stoppage time, Lucas Digne unleashed a venomous, dipping thunderbolt that rattled the crossbar, leaving the Atlas Lions breathing a huge sigh of relief after narrowly surviving another absolute scare!
While the second half mirrored the tense cage match of the first, France suddenly exploded into life to completely seize control of the tie with a devastating six-minute blitz! Kylian Mbappé instantly banished his penalty demons on the hour mark, ghosting into a pocket of space before burying a sublime, pinpoint finish beyond the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Still hungry for glory, the French talisman turned architect just moments later, threading a perfect pass to Dembélé, who charged forward and unleashed a low rocket that ripped through Bono’s outstretched hand to send the stadium into absolute delirium
Unfortunately, for 80 agonizing minutes of a monumental clash, Morocco’s heavy artillery fell silent, leaving French goalkeeper Mike Maignan largely untested. Then, with just ten minutes left on the clock, Azzedine Ounahi finally unleashed a furious, screaming shot from the edge of the box. The AC Milan stopper anticipated the danger perfectly, leaping to palm away the blistering strike and preserve France’s fragile lifeline.
