Euro 2016: France 2-1 Romania - Player Ratings
In a nail-biting finish to the curtain-raiser of Euro 2016, hosts France edged Romania 2-1 to start their campaign on a high. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for Les Blues, before Patrice Evra’s foul on Nicolae Stanciu awarded the Tricolorii a penalty, which was dispatched with aplomb by the Bogdan Stancu.
The game was heading towards a draw when in the 89th minute, Dimitri Payet unleashed a piledriver from the edge of the box that found its way into the top left corner of the goal helping Didier Deschamps’ side secure all the points.
The game started at a frantic pace with both sides creating chances, but they failed to break the deadlock courtesy of some excellent goalkeeping and poor finishing.
Here we take a look at how each player fared during the game.
France
Hugo Lloris – 6.5/10
The Tottenham Hotspur shot-stopper produced a brilliant save in the opening five minutes of the game to deny Stancu. Was confident whenever called into action but couldn’t do anything about the penalty.
Bacary Sagna – 6.5/10
The 33-year-old was solid at the back and provided an extra outlet in attack on the right wing. Griezmann fluffed his line after the former Arsenal man had provided a delightful cross for him to put his side ahead.
Adil Rami – 6/10
The better of the two central defenders on the night, Rami impressed with his positioning and tackling. Was kept busy for the entire 90 minutes and needs to improve his understanding with Koscielny.
Laurent Koscielny – 5.5/10
The Arsenal defender had a quiet game by his standards and apart from a couple of regulation tackles did not do much. Will have to pick up his game for the remainder of the tournament.
Patrice Evra – 3/10
The former Manchester United man had an evening to forget on the left-hand side of the defence and was given a torrid time by Popa and Stancu. Conceded the penalty after a needless challenge on the latter and his lack of pace was also evident on more occasions than one.
N’Golo Kante – 7.5/10
The Leicester City man chipped in with a brilliant performance as he marshalled the midfield with aplomb. Was at hand to provide some good tackles and interceptions, before providing the assist for Payet’s screamer.
Blaise Matuidi – 7/10
A dominant display from the 29-year-old as he formed a dynamic partnership with Kante at the heart of France’s midfield. Was solid throughout the game and thwarted almost anything that Romania had to offer on the counter-attack.
Antoine Griezmann – 5.5/10
The ghosts of the Champions League final seemed to haunt the Atletico Madrid man as he failed to get on the end of a delightful cross from Sagna to break the deadlock in the first half and subsequently hit the post from few yards out. The 25-year-old will need to pick up his game if France are to make it to the knockout stages, was replaced by Coman in the second half.
Paul Pogba – 6.5/10
The Juventus midfielder didn’t have the impact that Deschamps would have wanted him to make and was replaced by Martial in the 77th minute. Had his volley saved in the second half and tried to create nuisance for the Tricolorii defence with his trickery.
Dimitri Payet – 9/10
The West Ham United man put in an incredible performance and finished the game with a goal and an assist. The 29-year-old was a constant menace for the opposition with his tricks, clever movements and incisive passing. Found Giroud with a pin-point cross for the opener, before unleashing a memorable strike to seal the win for his side towards the end of the game.
Olivier Giroud – 7/10
The Arsenal man missed a couple of chances early on but more than made up for it with his opener as he headed home after some poor decision making by the Romanian goalkeeper and made a strong case for starting as the striker in the upcoming matches.
Substitutes
Kingsley Coman – 6/10
Replaced Griezmann in the 66th minute and was full of energy causing problems for the opposition defence.
Anthony Martial – N/A
Came on for Pogba in the 77th minute but did not have enough time to have a decisive impact on the game.
Moussa Sissoko -N/A
Come on as a stoppage-time substitute for Payet and did not have enough time to make an impact.