Martial saves a point for France as Ukraine stand firm

France’s winless streak stretched to five games as Les Bleus were held to a 1-1 draw away to Ukraine in their World Cup qualifier in Group D.

The world champions fell behind when Mykola Shaparenko found the back of the net after 44 minutes before Anthony Martial restored parity early in the second half.

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France still top the group on nine points from five games after a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday and three days before hosting second-placed Finland, who beat Kazakhstan 1-0. Ukraine are third behind the Finns, who also have five points, with Bosnia and Kazakhstan both on two points.

Didier Deschamps, the France coach, said: “It was much better in the second half and we have regrets in the first as we conceded the goal just after missing a chance. Playing all these matches in a row is tricky and very demanding but I’m not looking for excuses.”

Martial, who scored his second international goal and his first since September 2016, said: “It was a tough game for us today but at least we managed to equalise in a very important game.”

One good thing to come out of this international break is martial getting his first goal after being injured for 5 months, hopefully that goes him the power of good