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Football

21st Jun 2018

Kylian Mbappe compared to David Nugent after scoring his first ever World Cup goal

It had to happen

Simon Lloyd

Kylian Mbappe’s first World Cup goal gave France the lead over Peru on Thursday afternoon

With little over half an hour played in the game in Yekaterinburg, France won possession through Paul Pogba, who swiftly slid a pass through to Olivier Giroud. The Chelsea striker’s shot deflected off a Peruvian defender, the ball looping over the goalkeeper, seemingly destined to cross the line. Making absolutely sure that it did, Mbappe was on hand to apply one final touch.

In scoring, the 19-year-old became the youngest Frenchman to ever score for his country at a World Cup.

Some watching, however, weren’t all that impressed with the way he had appeared to steal what would have been Giroud’s goal.

A glimpse on Twitter in the minutes after Mbappe’s strike saw many making comparisons with former Portsmouth and Leicester City striker, David Nugent.

In 2007, Nugent scored his only England goal as he came on as a substitute in a European Championships qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona. A shot from Jermain Defoe had already been set to cross the line before Nugent poked home, completing the scoring in a 3-0 victory.

https://twitter.com/GarethBale22/status/1009822891318358021

France opened their World Cup campaign at the weekend, eventually defeating a resilient Australian side thanks to a late Pogba goal.

Australia were able to pick up their first point of the tournament against Denmark earlier on Thursday, Mile Jedinak’s penalty cancelling out an early opener from Christian Eriksen.