UEFA Euro 2016: France wins opening match 2-1 vs Romania

Monday, June 13, 2016

On Friday, France defeated Romania 2–1 in the opening match of UEFA Euro 2016. Dimitri Payet received the Man of the Match award after providing the assist for the opening goal and subsequently scoring the winner for the hosts in the 89th minute.

The match was held at the Stade de France in the French capital, Paris. The French had the greater ball possession during the match. Four yellow cards were shown during the match. Romanian center back Vlad Chiriche? was the first one to be booked by the referee. The first half ended 0–0 with two bookings, both for the visitors; R?zvan Ra? was shown a yellow card minutes before half time.

In the second half, striker Olivier Giroud scored the opening goal of the tournament from Payet’s cross. Within ten minutes of the opening goal, France’s Patrice Evra fouled Nicolae Stanciu in the penalty area. Bogdan Stancu equalised from the penalty spot. The match seemed to be heading towards a draw, but just before the end of play, N’Golo Kanté assisted Payet and he went on to score the winner, rifling a left-foot shot into the top left-hand corner of the net.

Three minutes later, he was substituted for Moussa Sissoko. The match ended 2–1.

After the match, France manager Didier Deschamps said, “I have no doubt of Dimitri Payet, of his decisive influence on the game.” ^{((fr)) French language: Je n’ai pas de doute sur Dimitri Payet, sur l’influence dans le jeu qu’il peut avoir et le fait d’être décisif.}