Thauvin leads the way as France beat Armenia

France strolled to their third straight win in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 10 by sweeping aside Armenia.

The contest was less than a quarter of an hour old when Yassine Benzia broke the deadlock. France picked up the pace after the break, with Olympique de Marseille forward Florian Thauvin registering either side of Paul-Georges Ntep De Madiba's effort during a dizzying nine-minute spell. The only blot on Les Bleuets' evening came when Davit Hakobyan reduced the deficit with six minutes left.

There was an air of inevitability about the result from the moment Benzia poked in De Madiba's centre from the left. Arsen Beglaryan later produced a smart save to deny Geoffrey Kondogbia but was helpless to prevent Thauvin scoring the visitors' second following a classy run.

De Madiba then showed fleet of foot to beguile his marker before sending a rasping effort into the top corner. A fourth goal arrived two minutes later, Lucas Digne picking out Thauvin, who made no mistake with a thumping header. The hosts refused to lie down, though, and were rewarded when Hakobyan found the net after taking receipt of Viulen Ayvazyan's pass.