Samir Nasri rescues France with late penalty against Bosnia-Herzegovina

On a night when City team-mate David Silva scored twice for Spain against Scotland, another member of Roberto Mancini’s squad, Edin Dzeko, had given the visitors a shock lead in Paris, but Nasri’s 78th-minute goal sealed nervous France’s place and left Bosnia in the play-off berth.

Laurent Blanc, the France coach, was a relieved man. He said: “It was what we expected. But it’s true that, even though we were poor for 45 minutes, Bosnia played very well. They were assured and showed good technical control. Their players caused us lots of problems.

“We made lots of mistakes in the first half when we were transparent, but in the second half the same players who were transparent played really well. I told them that if they wanted to go to the play-offs they’d just have to play like that. It was a nerve-racking match.”