With a brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta, France overcame 10 man Egypt 3-1 in extra time to get to the Paris 2024 Olympics final.
Omar Fayed’s sending off in extra time helped Mateta and Michael Olise guarantee that Mahmoud Saber’s objective of sending Egypt through did not come to pass.
Even though Egypt won the first half by a little margin, the home team came dangerously close to winning when Loic Bade’s header hit the post shortly before halftime.
Alexandre Lacazette wasted a fantastic opportunity at the hour mark, and Shehata quickly capitalised on the opposite end by sending his forceful effort into the net’s roof.
After Lacazette and Bade struck the woodwork in quick succession, France recovered, and Hamza Alaa made two outstanding saves to deny the captain of the Les Bleus.
However, in the 83rd minute, the hosts’ pressure paid off as Olise sprinted through midfield and found Mateta, a former teammate at Crystal Palace, to fire them level.
After a protracted VAR check was conducted deep into stoppage time in the second half, the referee stuck with the on-field ruling and awarded France a penalty for a handball by Omar Fayed, who was also booked for dissent.
When he was sent off for a late tackle on Desire Doue two minutes into extra time, his performance only got worse.
Seven minutes later, Mateta gave France the lead with a free header from close range, and in the 108th, Olise ensured their passage by curling a low shot past Alaa before he could react.
Thierry Henry once appeared to be shaking his head in frustration at France’s constant missed opportunities in front of goal. They only produced an expected goals (xG) of 0.2 in the first half, but as Egypt finally gave in to the pressure, they increased it to 2.33 from 17 shots in the second half.
After scoring the goal that advanced them to the semifinals, Mateta again proved to be the game-changing factor, adding two more goals to his total.
For the first time in forty years, France will compete in the Olympics final. On Friday, they will take on Spain in the gold medal match.
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