Olivier Giroud's late finish has handed France a 1-0 half-time lead over visitors Germany in their friendly clash at the Stade de France this evening.
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Both sides began the contest tentatively, but it was Germany who were almost in as France had to call on the expert defending of Patrice Evra, who was able to stifle some good link-up play between Sami Khedira and Matthias Ginter.
France soon sought to hit back through Anthony Martial, whose cross into the box was wasted by Giroud, after the striker failed to control before allowing Khedira to steal in and prevent the danger.
Julian Draxler grew in confidence in the first half and he almost carved out a great chance for veteran striker Mario Gomez, who eventually shot wide of the France goal.
Les Bleus might have grabbed themselves a lead a few minutes before the interval when some standout play saw Paul Pogba and Giroud play in Antoine Griezmann, leaving Manuel Neuer to stand firm.
Germany almost made the hosts pay for the miss on the stroke of half time, only for Gomez to again prove wasteful as his shot was kept out cleverly by Hugo Lloris.
The half's action was not over just yet, however, as Giroud appeared in injury time in order to tap home following a memorable run from Martial, who did all of the work to put France in a strong position at the break.
Christopher Dodd
