France boss Deschamps hails 'great leader' Maignan while Netherlands ease past Gibraltar

Les Bleus claim 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland in Dublin in Euro 2024 qualifying

France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, right, celebrates with teammates after the 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. AFP

France held on to beat Ireland 1-0 in Dublin on Monday to win their second Euro 2024 qualifier, while the Netherlands eased past Gibraltar 3-0.

Right-back Benjamin Pavard pounced with half-an-hour remaining at a sold-out Lansdowne Road before two superb Mike Maignan saves in the final two minutes.

With 30 seconds to play in Dublin, AC Milan's Maignan, who has succeeded former captain Hugo Lloris as Les Bleus' goalkeeper, tipped over teammate Jules Kounde's panicked header.

From the resulting corner Maignan saved the visitors' skin as he made a similar save from Nathan Collins' powerful effort.

"Mike's stop allowed us to stay in the match and claim a clean sheet, so I'm going to say that he's the man of the match," Bayern Munich's Pavard told television channel TF1.

France coach Didier Deschamps added: “It was an incredible save and we know what Mike is capable of. Hugo was captain for a long time and he also made great saves.

“Mike has great qualities, his stature and his mentality. He saved a penalty last Friday, but this was more significant. I never had any doubts about him. He is a great leader and a great player.”

In Rotterdam, Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake scored twice in a little over half-an-hour as the Netherlands overcame 10-man Gibraltar.

Atletico Madrid forward Memphis Depay opened the scoring in the first half with a towering header before veteran Liam Walker was shown a red card the other side of the break.

Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk bemoaned a lack of goals at De Kuip from his team, who lost heavily to France in their Group B opener on Friday.

"You score three goals, but you have to score many more," the Liverpool defender said.

"This is a game where you can hardly ever get it right. You have to win 10-0, so to speak," he added.

In Group F, Sweden bounced back from a heavy opening defeat to Belgium by hammering Azerbaijan 5-0 in Solna.

Emile Forsberg, Viktor Gyokeres, Jesper Karlsson and Anthony Elanga netted for the hosts and Bahlul Mustafazade scored an own goal.

Austria avoided an upset at home to beat Estonia 2-1 despite trailing after 25 minutes from a Rauno Sappinen effort.

Cologne winger Florian Kainz opened his account for his country with 22 minutes to play before Michael Gregoritsch completed the comeback with two minutes to go.

Real Madrid's David Alaba came off the bench after 46 minutes after Gregoritsch has missed a first half penalty.

Dominik Szoboszlai superb free-kick set Hungary on their way to a 3-0 success over Bulgaria as they started their campaign clinically.

Elsewhere in Group G, Dusan Vlahovic's double were more than enough as Serbia beat Montenegro 2-0 in only their third meeting since Montenegro declared independence in 2006.

In Group E, the Czech Republic were held 0-0 by lowly Moldova as Karol Swiderski scored his ninth goal in 21 internationals as Poland beat Albania 1-0 after losing to the Czechs on Friday.