A sharper second-half performance saw France cruise to a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in a rain-delayed encounter in Donetsk and take top spot in Euro 2012 Group D.
Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers ordered the teams off the field five minutes into the game with a violent thunderstorm raging around them at the Donbass Arena.
However, Kuipers inspected the pitch with UEFA officials after the rain relented and with the ground staff working overtime to soak up the surface water he declared it fit to play on.
Le Bleus came out and dominated possession and chances after the delay and could have easily been three up by the break.
Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov was in good form, denying Jeremy Menez on two separate occasions in the first half.
However, eight minutes into the second half the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder broke the deadlock, latching onto Karim Benzema's pass before cutting inside and dragging his left-foot shot beyond the reach of Pyatov.
Three minutes later, France doubled their advantage and Benzema was the instigator of the move once again as he found Yohan Cabaye in space and the Newcastle man kept his nerve and balance to slot his low shot past Pyatov.
France kept the 2-0 lead to win the contest and they sit above England, who defeated Sweden 3-2, on goal difference in Group D at the end of Friday's action.
Oleg Blokhin revealed after the match that he hoped Ukraine's players did not allow complacency to creep into their game.
"In the first half, it was an even game," said Blokhin.
"In the second, we were unable to score and France were. I'm satisfied with our play but unfortunately everything didn't go as planned.
"The win against Sweden didn't guarantee us anything, so if we thought we were in the quarters, we made a mistake."
Laurent Blanc was delighted with the way his French side coped with a partisan home crowd.
"Tonight I really enjoyed watching France play," Blanc told M6 Television.
"We scored two goals and we could have scored a few more. We're progressing. Everything isn't perfect but the players know that we have a potential that just needs further progress.
"Each match is different. Tonight we were better than Ukraine and God knows it wasn't easy because they had a whole stadium behind them."
