Hosts France met Romania in the opening encounter of the EUROs 2016 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The French have been touted as favorites to win the EUROs, and it was expected to be an easy win for the Les Bleus in the first match, but it was Romania who dominated the starting minutes, with the visitors threatening France’s goal on a regular basis in the first 15 minutes.
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Though France settled down a little after the opening minutes, but the home side failed to capitalize on crucial defensive errors from Romanian defense.
Oliver Giroud missed two chances in the first half, while Antoine Griezmann’s header was denied by the inside of the goal-post.
Romania started the second half with a bang, and the men in yellow could have taken the lead, but forward Bogdan Stancu missed the target.
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Oliver Giroud finally found the back of the net in the 57th minute, when he headed Dimitri Payet’s perfect cross into the top left corner of the net.
France’s celebrations were short-lived though as a foul by Patrice Evra cost Didier Deschamps men a penalty, which was converted by Bogdan Stancu, giving Romania the equalizer.
Deschamp responded by bringing on Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial to help bolster the attack.
when the payet goes up
the blessings come down pic.twitter.com/q3vhJCDyu8
— Justin Block (@JBlock49) June 10, 2016
But it was West Ham’s poster-boy Payet, who stole the show when he scored a screamer in the 89th minute to give the hosts a much needed first match win.