A brace from Kylian Mbappe inspired France to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Bafana Bafana in an international friendly at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Tuesday evening.
The home side got off to a bright start and nearly took the lead in the fifth minute, but Ronwen Williams produced a fine save to deny Olivier Giroud at the near post.
France’s persistence paid off as they took the lead in the 23rd minute when Kylian Mbappe fired his curling effort into the top corner out of Williams’ reach to make it 1-0.
The French side managed to double their lead in the 33rd minute when Giroud received a delightful ball into the box before he danced past the South African defenders to fire his effort into the bottom corner.
The home side managed to hold on to their two-goal lead in the first 45 minutes as the game went into half time.
Hugo Broos opted to make a double substitution at the restart as Goodman Mosele and Khuliso Mudau came on to replace Fagrie Lakay and Teboho Mokwena.
Williams was called into action several times leading up to the hour mark as he made quick saves in succession to deny the French.
The Bafana coach opted to bring on fresh legs moments later as Keagan Dolly was introduced for Bongokuhle Hlongwane before Lyle Foster was taken off in the 72nd minute and replaced by Evidence Makgopa.
France were then awarded a penalty a minute later after Siyanda Xulu brought down Mbappe in the box, Mbappe stepping up and making no mistake to slot the ball into the bottom corner.
The home side then extended their lead even further in the 81st minute after Wissam Ben Yedder slotted the ball into an empty net after latching on to a header played through by Pogba.
Things went from bad to worse for Bafana moments later when they were reduced to 10 men after Mudau was sent off for a harsh challenge on Lucas Digne follwing a VAR review.
France put the game beyond South Africa in stoppage time when Mattéo Guendouzi rounded off the scoring with a powerful strike from just outside the box to guide his side to a 5-0 victory in Lille.
