Mbappe and Dembele on target as France dump Morocco out to reach World Cup semis

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a] made a fast start to proceedings as they looked for a repeat of their early goal from their 2-0 semi-final win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] in Qatar three-and-a-half years ago.[/p][p]Fortunately for Mohamed Ouahbi’s charges, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bono-bounou-yassine/ne0lafKc/"]Bono[/a] was alert to the early danger, scrambling across to his near post to push [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappe[/a]’s low strike around the post, before reacting quickly to keep out Dayot Upamecano’s downward header from the subsequent corner.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="08a52d40-b1c3-4883-8d4f-7f33639ee974" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="5a137cf0-bb21-4b54-8183-58375517d37a" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]After weathering the early pressure, Morocco adopted a deep and compact defensive structure in a bid to reduce the space for France’s array of attacking talent. [/p][p]The risks of moving away from that conservative strategy became clear when the Atlas Lions were caught out in a rare foray forward in the first half, leaving room for Mbappe to drive into the box and draw a rash challenge from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mazraoui-noussair/2ajowGAq/"]Noussair Mazraoui[/a].[/p][p]The Real Madrid star was then made to wait over three nervy minutes before he was permitted to commence his stuttered run-up that failed to deceive Bono, who demonstrated all of his penalty-saving expertise to guess the right way and comfortably gather a tame spot-kick.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="13b7ebdb-9094-4fe6-9d83-4f76f3b8463c" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f4ff9df5-34b5-42ae-a451-0889039b76eb" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Morocco scraped through to the respite of the half-time interval, but not before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/digne-lucas/v9Ux4sua/"]Lucas Digne[/a] struck the woodwork with an ambitious, dipping shot from distance.[/p][p]France’s frustration continued in the early stages of the second period until Mbappe produced a moment of magic to break the deadlock on the hour mark.[/p][p][b]Putting his penalty disappointment behind him, the 27-year-old took aim from the edge of the box, cleverly using [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diop-issa/Eyqbicqr/"]Issa Diop[/a] to shape a curling shot that started outside the far post and finished in the corner of Bono’s net.[/b][/p][image alt="Mbappe's opener against Morocco" id="d733e7ba-bdb3-4f33-b4d4-007c876ba725" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform (photo by REUTERS/Brian Snyder)" guid="604fe253-f91c-4563-9934-53064f6a97ab" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Morocco’s resistance was broken, and their semi-final dreams were soon quashed by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dembele-ousmane/zsMC2Ec0/"]Ousmane Dembele[/a], who motored into the space created by Mbappe’s decoy run and applied enough power to his low shot to beat Bono’s defences.[/b][/p][p]At the opposite end of the pitch, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maignan-mike/S6gN2QNC/"]Mike Maignan[/a] and company calmly dealt with Morocco’s brief, late threat to seal a third consecutive clean sheet, ensuring Les Bleus will head into Tuesday’s semi-final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] with significant momentum behind them.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dembele-ousmane/zsMC2Ec0/"]Ousmane Dembele[/a] (France)[/b][/p][image alt="Dembele and Mbappe in the match" id="8d12e018-21ca-4206-94ac-9be6d96b03d3" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="02690f9b-4806-469c-8a6d-eef70480d592" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/france-QkGeVG1n/morocco-IDKYO3R8/summary/stats/?mid=jJ5yWPhU"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]