Spot on France edge Iceland thriller

Iceland dropped their first points of UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying as France prevailed in a thriller in Reykjavik to join their hosts at the top of Group 10.

France maintained their flawless record from four games but were forced to come from behind twice before Paul-Georges Ntep De Madiba's 83rd-minute penalty won it. Sverrir Ingason had given Iceland an early lead and the hosts also led 2-1 before falling behind. Holmbert Fridjonsson's spot kick looked to have earned a draw for Eyjólfur Sverrisson's men before Ntep De Madiba struck.

The game started perfectly for the hosts as the head of captain Ingason powered them ahead after nine minutes. Lindsay Rose drew France level with a header of his own from a Florian Thauvin cross, before the French scorer turned into his own net on 57 minutes to restore the home lead. Yassine Benzia then struck twice in two minutes to turn the game on its head and put Willy Sagnol's men in the driving seat.

Fridjonsson scored with his first touch, converting a penalty to make it all square a minute after coming off the bench, but Ntep De Madiba kept his nerve to score from the penalty spot and move France level with Iceland with a game in hand.

"I'll take the three points today," said Sagnol. "We reacted well, but I would rather my team act than react. Sometimes it's good to win difficult games like this because that experience helps you build a good team for the future. But we could have done so much more to make this not so much an easy match, but an easier match."