Perfect France make light work of Latvia

France moved nine points clear in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 9 thanks to a comfortable 3-0 defeat of Latvia in Sedan.

Eric Mombaerts's team have now won all six of their games in the section without conceding and enjoy a healthy advantage at the summit, though second-placed Slovakia hold a game in hand. Vincent Pajot, Antoine Griezmann and substitute Steven Joseph Monrose got the goals to leave Les Bleuets able to seal their place in the play-offs when they face Kazakhstan on Friday.

France dominated throughout at the Stade Louis Dugauguez and had their first real chance after 20 minutes, when Artūrs Vaičulis pulled off a great save from Alexandre Lacazette. Francis Coquelin then tried his luck from 20 metres following a corner, before Pajot broke the deadlock with a 34th-minute penalty, Aleksejs Giļničs having handled the ball in the area.

With the home side proving constantly dangerous on the flanks, they continued to set the rhythm, doubling their lead 11 minutes after the interval when Griezmann finished off a classy counterattack. Latvia's best chance fell to Eduards Višņakovs with 18 minutes remaining, but his attempt lacked the power to trouble Ali Ahamada and Joseph Monrose promptly completed the win from inside the area following an excellent team move.