Loic Remy sends France on the way to 3-0 victory away to Armenia

Posted Wednesday, October 15, 2014 by skysports.com

Loic Remy: Opened the scoring for Didier Deschamps' men

Loic Remy scored a seventh-minute opener to set France on their way to a comfortable 3-0 friendly win over Armenia in Yerevan on Tuesday evening.

Andre-Pierre Gignac's 55th-minute penalty and a late strike from Antoine Griezmann wrapped up the victory for Didier Deschamps' men.

Armenia had started the game with confidence after a promising draw against Serbia in a European Championship qualifier on Saturday.

But they fell behind when an Artem Simonyan free-kick came to nothing in the French half and a swift counter-attack by the visitors ended in Chelsea striker Remy firing the opener.

The hosts had their moments with Marcos Pizzelli in particular causing problems for the French defence and goalkeeper Steve Mandanda forced into an 18th-minute save.

But Deschamps' men, looking to extend a three-match unbeaten run since their World Cup exit to Germany, grew more dominant following the half-time introduction of Paul Pogba.

It was Pogba who was hauled down in the penalty area by Varazdat Haroyan in the 55th minute, giving Gignac the chance to lash his side's second past Roman Berezovsky in the Armenia goal.

Remy missed an opportunity in the 63rd minute and Armenia substitute Hovhannes Hambardzumyan had a chance to reduce the deficit but saw his shot saved by Mandanda.

Griezmann grabbed the third for France seven minutes from time, shortly after Gignac had a shot blocked.