Saha grabs debut France goal

Two of the Premiership’s big-money strikers were on target on a busy night of international friendlies last night.

Manchester United’s recent recruit Louis Saha celebrated his France debut with a goal and Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu put his recent problems behind him with a double as Romania outclassed Georgia.

Saha wrapped up the European champions’ 2-0 victory over Belgium in Brussels when he struck their second in the 79th minute. Sidney Govou had given them the lead in first-half stoppage time.

Mutu was the star of the Romanian show with a goal in each half as Georgia were outclassed 3-0 at the Cyprus International Tournament. Florin Cernat scored a late third.

In the same competition, Southampton’s Marian Pahars was on target as Latvia beat Kazakhstan 3-1. Hosts Cyprus lost 2-0 to Belarus, Hungary overcame Armenia by the same scoreline and Israel hammered Azerbaijan 6-0.

Elsewhere, Miroslav Klose netted the winner deep in stoppage time as Germany beat Croatia 2-1 in Split.

Aston Villa midfielder Nolberto Solano gave Peru the lead against Spain in Barcelona but the home side fought back to win 2-1.

Solano put the South Americans in front after 20 minutes but goals from Joseba Etxeberria and Ruben Baraja earned victory for Spain.

Switzerland were beaten 2-1 by African Nations Cup finalists Morocco and Libya also recorded an impressive result, drawing 1-1 with Ukraine.

Arjen Robben, who recently attracted the interest of Manchester United, scored the only goal as Holland beat the United States 1-0.

Sweden suffered a surprise 2-1 reverse in Albania but Denmark claimed a creditable 1-0 win in Turkey.

FYR Macedonia beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Goran Pandev,

Poland beat Slovenia 2-0 and a late Juan Arango equaliser earned Venezuela a 1-1 draw with Australia.