Ukraine 0-2 France

Second-half goals from Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye secure a hard fought win for France to go top of Group D.

Laurent Blanc's side were frustrated for most of the game, which suffered a lengthy delay in the first-half due to extreme weather conditions, but two goals in three minutes were enough to see off co-hosts Ukraine who put up a worthy fight.
The match was suspended after five minutes due to extreme weather conditions in Gdansk. Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers rushed the players off the pitch when lightning flashed above the Donbass Arena and play did not resume until 55 minutes later when the torrential rain stopped and the pitch had been completely cleared of excess water.
Questions will have been asked over how the two managers could keep their players focused during the break but France seemed to suffer from no such problems. They came out of the traps flying after the restart and Karim Benzema and Mathieu Debuchy each tested the goalkeeper with efforts from outside the box.
Ukraine struggled to get to grips with the French movement and a wonderful move saw Jeremy Menez put the ball in the back of the net, only to see the goal ruled out for offside.
PSG winger Menez was not as clinical in two other chances later on in the first-half however and squandered two glorious opportunities to give France the lead, first blazing over from the edge of the box before striking a shot straight at Andriy Pyatov from eight-yards.
Andriy Shevchenko was almost Ukraine's hero again when he beat the offside trap and went through on goal, only to see his shot on the half volley turned away by Hugo Lloris at his near post.
The Ukraine skipper's opportunity brought the home crowd back to life and the co-hosts found a foothold in the game as the half wore on, though they failed to create another goal-scoring opportunity until after half-time when Shevchenko grazed the crossbar with a wonderful 20-yard strike.
Menez came close to opening the scoring again for France when his shot from inside the box was saved by the legs of Pyatov but the pacey winger converted a chance immediately after when he drove a low left-footed strike past the keeper on 53 minutes, three minutes before Cabaye doubled the lead with a cool finish.
It was Cabaye's first international goal and he almost grabbed his second ten minutes later when he saw a thumping shot from 18-yards come back off the post.
Ukraine ran out of steam after going two goals behind and France dictated the remainder of the game, although Marko Devic and Yevhen Konoplyanka both shot wide for Ukraine in the closing stages with ambitious attempts.
The win leaves France top of Group D with one game remaining, though England can leapfrog them if they beat Sweden by more than one goal in the late kick-off.