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By Patrick Vignal
PARIS, Sept 10 (Reuters) - France turned round a poor start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign by beating Serbia 2-1 courtesy of second-half goals by captain Thierry Henry and fellow striker Nicolas Anelka on Wednesday. France had slumped to an embarrassing 3-1 defeat by Austria in their opening Group Seven game on Saturday in Vienna and French media had speculated coach Raymond Domenech would lose his job if the World Cup runners-up did not win this time.
Striker Henry showed them the way on a mild evening at the Stade de France, collecting a through ball by Sidney Govou to hit the back of the net with an angled shot from inside the area on 54 minutes.
Substitute Anelka doubled the advantage with a fine goal 10 minutes later, twisting his way past two defenders to strike from the edge of the box.
Serbia, who started with a lacklustre 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands, reduced the arrears with a header from a corner by Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic 14 minutes from time.
The visitors threatened a few times in the first half but France took control of the game after the break.
"We showed tonight that we had quality and could play good football," said Domenech, who was booed by the Stade de France crowd and heard some fans ask for his resignation. "This is interesting for the future," he added.
STANKOVIC BLOW
Serbia suffered a blow when they lost captain Dejan Stankovic through injury after just five minutes. Coach Radomir Antic later confirmed the midfielder had damaged knee ligaments.
"We played well in the first 30 minutes but missed our chances," Antic said. "After that France played better with a quick passing game and we suffered."
Domenech, under criticism since his team made a group-stage exit from Euro 2008, had made three changes from the team who had suffered France's first defeat by Austria in 38 years.
They paid off with notably a fine performance by playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, starting a match for France for the first time.
The Girondins Bordeaux player, on loan from AC Milan, orchestrated play with calm authority and rattled the crossbar with a superb drive from outside the box on 71 minutes.
Domenech's decision to replace Karim Benzema with Anelka for the second half proved another key to France's much-needed victory.
(Editing by Clare Lovell and Padraic Halpin)
