21 Jun 2014

French maul Swiss

10:41 am on 21 June 2014

France sparkled in a 5-2 mauling of neighbours Switzerland in World Cup Group E to move closer to the knockout phase.

Goals within 66 seconds from Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi put France 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes at the Fonte Nova arena and on their way to a comfortable triumph.

The diminutive Mathieu Valbuena scored a third five minutes before halftime after Karim Benzema's 32nd-minute penalty was saved by Diego Benaglio.

But Benzema kept up a rich vein of recent scoring form as he grabbed France's fourth in the 67th minute and Moussa Sissoko added the fifth.

Substitute Blerim Dzemaili hammered home a low free kick nine minutes from time and a volley from Granit Xhaka in the 87th minute gave the Swiss a second late consolation goal.