England were left disappointed with their trip across the English Channel, as a late goal from Ousmane Dembélé saw them defeated 3-2 by Didier Deschamps' young France side.

The Three Lions couldn't have asked for a better start as Harry Kane opened the scoring inside ten minutes, however France took over from there with Olivier Giroud's disallowed goal before Samuel Umtiti got the equaliser with his first international goal after 22 minutes.

Chances proved limited for the remainder of the half for both sides, with youngster Kylian Mbappé going close but a late strike from Djibril Sidibé saw France head into the break ahead.

It was a dramatic opening to the second period as Raphaël Varane was dismissed and Kane equalised from the penalty spot, Mbappé went close with two excellent chances but it was Dembélé who had the final say as he clocked up the winner in the 78th minute.

Skipper proving critical

England came within minutes of losing their perfect streak in qualifying on Sunday against Scotland before being saved by Kane, and the skipper marked the emotional occasion in the Stade de France by opening the scoring with a brilliantly worked goal.

The move was started and finished in Tottenham as Dele Alli pinged a great ball across to Raheem Sterling in the area; it was a good touch from the Manchester City man to hold it up before playing the backheel into Ryan Bertrand. It was simple enough for the full-back to play it across the face of goal, where Kane did well to get ahead of Umtiti before firing home from close-range.

Making your first international goal count

Falling behind didnt seem to faze the French and Deschamps' side nearly found themselves back in it almost instantly. A ball over the top from Paul Pogba was taken on the chest by Giroud who looked to top his goal at the weekend as he volleyed it into the top corner. The Stade de France was trialling the video assistant referee for the evening, but it wasn't needed to cut short Giroud's celebrations as he was judged offside.

However it didn't take them long to get themselves back in the game, and it proved to be a stain on Tom Heaton's full debut in Gareth Southgate's team. A free-kick in from Pogba was latched onto by Giroud which forced a decent save from Heaton, but he could only push it as far as Umtiti who was alive to the situation to slot home.

Failing to learn from their lesson

It was an exciting team that Deschamps had put it out, especially in the Millennial wonder Mbappé, and he looked to impress on the international stage like he had with Monaco all season with a good chance just after the half-hour mark.

He did well to come in off the left where he has always proved a danger; he managed to bamboozle two defenders in the process before aiming at the near post but Heaton does well to turn it wide with his foot.

England looked to be holding out to go into the break on level terms, but they failed to learn their lesson from the first goal as they fell behind for the first time in the clash. Gary Cahill's attempted clearance fell straight into the feet of Dembélé who did well to wriggle through and get the shot away, Heaton once again did well but once again put it back into danger and Sidibé was their to reap the rewards with his own debut international goal.

New technology coming into play

Though the new technology was available it had yet to be used by referee Davide Massa, but the video referee was called upon very early in the second period as England were handed a golden chance back into the clash. It was excellent from Alli as he managed to get on the end of his own ball over the top, the attacker was running into the area before been brought down by Varane which inturn saw Massa point to the spot.

Massa called upon his video assistants for guidance as the French players waited for the decision, it proved to be ultimate punishment as Varane and Kane lined up the spot kick. The odds were against Kane with his teammate Hugo Lloris seeing his penealty technique countless times, but he decided to go with brute strength as he fires it down the middle.

Millennials on the rampage

Once again the goal or even the man disadvantage didn't seem to faze Les Bleus, and it didn't seem to affect Mbappé in the slightest as he tied the England defence into knots.

He looked certain to finish as he got onto the end of a slick through ball in the 66th minute, Jack Butland was returning to the international stage after been injured in March and he returned in style as he rushed out and got enough on it to turn it away.

The 18-year-old would have been left scratching his head how he hadn't put his side ahead, he turned Cahill inside out as he cut in on the defender and took the shot. It clattered the crossbar as it came out to the feet of Sidibé, but Butland denied him his brace as he got down low to block the effort on the line.

After constantly banging on the door of England's defence, Les Bleus finally broke down their barrier with 12 minutes to play. It was excellent play with Pogba's excellent first-time ball into the feet of Mbappé, he did well to hold the ball up for Dembélé and he dragged the effort across he body of Cahill and into the bottom corner.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.