France made to sweat against Egypt as Mateta leads hosts into Olympic final
Keen to put the ugly scenes that followed their quarter-final against Argentina behind them, France looked for a similarly early break tonight, having already avoided a repeat of their quarter-final exit from the previous Paris Olympics of 1924.
But Hamza Alaa got down well to bat away a volleyed effort from Adrien Truffert, and those in attendance at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais had to wait a while for any edge-of-the-seat action after that.
There were some half chances for Egypt too though, before Michael Olise flashed wide from distance, encapsulating just how much work Thierry Henry’s men needed to do to replicate their 1984 gold medal win. And even with some possible fatigue after going the distance with Paraguay on Friday, the likes of Egyptian Zizo continued to cause trouble late in the first half as Egypt looked good value for an opener.
Yet, it was Loïc Badé who went closest of all to a breakthrough, nodding against the upright just before the break.
Egypt initially looked slow to get back up to speed after the break but they sprung into action on the hour mark to take a sensational lead. Mohamed Shehata did lots of the hard work to find Mahmoud Saber, who wormed his way into the box and smashed through Guillaume Restes into the roof of the net.
What followed was bedlam at the other end, as France desperately tried to find a leveller through Mateta, Alexandre Lacazette and Maghnes Akliouche, but all three failed to net golden opportunities.
That was partly down to a fantastic display from Alaa in goal, but Rogério Micale’s players also had the woodwork to thank for further denying Lacazette and Mateta in a single hectic sequence. It was perhaps inevitable, then, when Olise glided past numerous challenges to slot Mateta in for the Crystal Palace forward to lift over Alaa for the equaliser.
Even more chaos arrived deep into stoppage time when Omar Fayed handled it in the area and received a booking for dissent, but referee Saíd Martínez decided not to award a penalty after a VAR review, sending this match to extra-time.
Perhaps still angered at the earlier call, Fayed soon saw a second yellow for slicing down Desire Doue.
That allowed Kiliann Sildillia space on the left to loop one to the far post, where Mateta was waiting to head in and send the Lyon crowd wild. Olise slid one in from the centre of the area to add a goal to a commanding performance, setting up a blockbuster bout for gold on Friday where France will face Spain as they look to continue their quest for third place in the medal table for just the second time since Paris 1924.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michael Olise (France)