For a short stretch late in the first half, it seemed like the Estonian U21 team might just make life difficult for the hosts. Tony Varjund’s sharp finish narrowed the gap and gave the visitors a flash of belief. But France quickly shifted gears and, with a blistering second-half surge, blew the game wide open to seal a 6-1 win.
The early moments offered little sign of the storm to come. Estonia sat compact, forcing France to probe patiently. Then, in the space of three chaotic minutes, the balance tipped. In the 9th minute, goalkeeper Ott Nõmm attempted to play out from the back, but his pass fell straight to Wilson Odobert. A quick layoff found his Tottenaham teammate Mathys Tel, who swept the ball home from close range. Soon after, a loose ball from Andreas Vaher again put Estonia in trouble. Tel picked it up, slipped in Djaoui Cisse, and the forward made it 2-0 with a composed strike from distance.
From there, the French pressure was relentless. They carved out chance after chance, firing 12 efforts at goal before the break. Nõmm kept his team in it with a couple of brave stops and fearless interventions, while Odobert and Cisse both narrowly missed extending the lead.
Then came an unexpected twist. In first-half stoppage time, Varjund charged at Robin Risser, forcing a costly mistake from the French keeper. The ball spilled free, and the Estonian forward pounced, rolling it into an empty net to make it 2-1. It was a rare bright moment in an otherwise one-sided half.
Whatever hope that goal gave Estonia didn’t survive long after the restart. Just five minutes into the second period, substitute Eli Junior Kroupi restored France’s cushion, deftly finishing a pass from Warren Zaire-Emery. Odobert rattled the post minutes later, then turned in Dayann Methalie’s cross to make it 4-1 as the hosts shifted into cruise control.
Estonia’s best opening of the second half came in the 69th minute when Oskar Hõim intercepted a loose pass high up the pitch. Instead of trying his luck from range, he set up Ramol Sillamaa, whose shot from just outside the box missed the target – a wasted opportunity on a night where Estonia had few.
France, meanwhile, showed no mercy. Odobert added another with a calm finish in the 79th minute. Rommi Siht produced a remarkable goal-line clearance shortly after, but the French weren’t done. In the 86th minute, Odobert’s header struck the post, and Kroupi reacted fastest to turn in the rebound for 6-1.
The statistics underlined France’s superiority: 16 shots in the second half alone, with seven on target and two striking the frame of the goal. Estonia, by contrast, mustered only one attempt, and it didn’t trouble the keeper.
The result leaves Estonia sitting fifth in their qualification group with just two points from five matches, ahead of Luxembourg, who have played three fewer games. Their next chance to climb the table comes in next year in March, with away fixtures against Iceland and Switzerland.
Source: https://soccernet.ee/artikkel/luup-peale-varjund-tegi-sappineni-aga-see-ajas-prantsusmaa-vihaseks
