Two goals in three second-half minutes by Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye gave France an impressive 2-0 win over Ukraine in a Euro 2012 Group D match that was halted for 55 minutes by a thunderstorm on Friday.
The players were taken off after five minutes as thunder, lightning and torrential rain descended on the stadium but when the game resumed the playing surface was remarkably good and Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov had to be on top form to keep out a series of French attempts on goal.
He was beaten in the 53rd minute, though, when Karim Benzema set up Menez after a quick counter-attack and again when Benzema again provided the killer ball for Cabaye to shoot home and reward France's dominance.
Cabaye also hit the post as the sweet-passing French silenced the sodden home crowd and the win took them to four points, one ahead of the co-hosts who failed to reproduce the form that brought them their opening 2-1 win over Sweden.
England, who drew 1-1 with France in their opener, have one point ahead of their game against Sweden later on Friday.
(Writing by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.