Late flurry gives French victory
Autor: Leonardo Leão | Publicado: 2011-06-06T20:22:00-07:00

Marvin Martin&nbsp;scored twice in three minutes on his debut as&nbsp;France&nbsp;finished the season with an emphatic 4-1 friendly win over&nbsp;Ukraine.Martin scored in the 87th and 90th minutes as the visitors put a gloss on a scoreline which was not a true reflection of the game. All the goals came in the second half, with&nbsp;Anatoliy Tymoschukputting&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;ahead before Kevin Gameiro equalised five minutes later.The game appeared to be heading for a draw before Martin's double intervention, which sandwiched a goal by Younes Kaboul, also making his debut. The result means&nbsp;France&nbsp;end the season on a high after their disappointing 1-1 draw with Belarus in their UEFA EURO 2012 qualification campaign at the weekend.
Loic Remy had a shot for the visitors early on but there was little of note in the opening exchanges as neither side created any clear-cut openings. Steve Mandanda was called upon to collect a corner from Serhiy Nazarenko before Marco Devic's 20-yard shot was blocked by Mamdou Sakho.
Oleg Gusev and Andrey Voronin both had shots for the hosts as the half wore down but it wasFrance&nbsp;who almost took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Gameiro fired in a shot from the centre of the penalty area which was tipped round the post by&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;goalkeeper Andrei Pyatov.
Ukraine&nbsp;strike first
The second half began in the same manner as the first 45 minutes, with plenty of endeavour and attacking intent from both sides but little in terms of real openings. Yohan Cabaye had a right-footed shot from the right-hand side of the penalty area blocked by Tymoschuk before the Bayern Munich player gave&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;the lead eight minutes after half-time.

Tymoschuk unleashed a low shot from 35 yards which drilled into the middle of the goal to give the hosts the lead. Gameiro was in a good position to equalise soon after but his weak shot was tipped round the post by Pyatov.
But the lead was nevertheless short-lived, with Gameiro levelling five minutes after Tymoshcuk's opener. Gameiro collected Anthony Reveillere's throw-in before sending a shot into the right-hand corner of the goal. Mandanda then repelled Devic's left-footed 20-yard shot as&nbsp;Ukrainelooked to reclaim the lead. Both sides made a number of substitutions as the match continued to be open.
Martin makes the difference
Denis Kozhanov had a shot blocked by Yann M'Vila but it was Karim Benzema who threatened to give the French the lead twice in the space of a minute. The Real Madrid player replaced Gameiro in the 64th minute and almost put&nbsp;France&nbsp;ahead in the 82nd minute when he put a shot wide, before having his close-range effort parried by Pyatov a minute later.

France&nbsp;did go ahead with just three minutes to go when substitute Martin sent in a spectacular shot from 30 yards before Kaboul headed into the top right-hand corner of the goal from close range to ensure victory. Benzema then turned provider for Martin, who drilled home into the top left-hand corner to score a fourth goal for the French and the third in three extraordinary minutes.Source: fifa.com