France 1-0 Belgium: 5 Talking Points as Les Bleus Storm into Final, World Cup 2018

#2 Marouane Fellaini plays in a variety of roles with mixed results

Marouane Fellaini was tasked with keeping a close eye on Paul Pogba

Not many managers would start Marouane Fellaini in a World Cup semi-final when they have loads of more talented players on the ball but Roberto Martinez needed Fellaini to fill in for many positions in different scenarios and it worked out well.

Fellaini initially started in the middle of the three-man midfield with Axel Witsel and Mousa Dembele on either side but he was soon allowed to go forward and join the attacking trio in the final third.

There were times when he made a run into the box to play as a target man and there were occasions when he played in a no.10 role when Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne drifted wide.

Off the ball, Fellaini could even be seen dropping back in a deep defensive role, sometimes slotting in between central defenders Toby Alderweireld and Vincent Kompany to help combat Olivier Giroud.

He was even seen marking Paul Pogba at times, stopping France from mounting any attacks before they even began. But the Frenchman, who marked him in return, also got the better of him in attack at times.

It only begged the question: how long could he keep this up? That was answered in the second half.

It was Fellaini that lost Samuel Umtiti during a corner kick and the Barcelona defender beat him in the air to head home the cross to give France the lead.

Moreover, his free-roaming role did not give Belgium any structure in the second half and it seemed like they were freewheeling after going 1-0 down. In the end, he was playing out wide to put in crosses (!) and Martinez had to replace him with Carrasco with 10 minutes to go.