The
West Ham attacker scored a late stunner to earn the three points after Bogdan
Stancu's second-half penalty had cancelled out Giroud's opener
Dimitri
Payet was France's hero on Friday as his stunning late strike earned the hosts
a 2-1 victory over Romania in their Euro 2016 opener.Les Bleus were staring
down the barrel of a frustrating draw in the Group A contest at the Stade de
France with Bogdan Stancu's penalty cancelling out Olivier Giroud's 57th-minute
opener.
But with the clock winding down, West Ham star Payet -
France's outstanding player on the night - curled in a
brilliant left-footed effort from 25 yards to seal all three points.It was
a deserved win for Didier Deschamps' team and Payet was at the heart of all
their best attacking play, the 29-year-old having also provided the assist for
Olivier Giroud to head home an eighth goal in his past six international
starts.France's margin of victory could have been greater with Giroud at times
wasteful and Antoine Griezmann hitting the post in the first half.But Didier
Deschamps will be thrilled with the victory, as well as Payet's dazzling
performance.
For all the attacking talent at France's disposal, concerns over their
defence have been highlighted in the build-up to the tournament. And
those worries were evident in the fourth minute when Nicolae Stanciu's corner was
flicked to the back post where Stancu was denied inside the six-yard box by a
stunning save from Hugo Lloris. France survived the shaky start and Giroud
should have done better with a header from eight yards that he put past the
left-hand post following good work from Payet. Griezmann then went even closer,
the Atletico Madrid forward nodding against the right post after Bacary Sagna's
teasing delivery bounced off Vlad Chiriches.
Les
Bleus were frustrated again 10 minutes before the break when Payet's fizzed
cross was met by Griezmann only for a crucial touch from Cristian Sapunaru to
take the ball wide.The missed chances almost proved costly early in the second
half as Stanciu clipped a delicious ball into Stancu, who could only volley
wide when unmarked in the area.
France
again found their rhythm, though, and the superb Payet bamboozled the Romania
defence with a clever dummy before teeing up the unusually
subdued Paul Pogba to volley at Ciprian Tatarusanu from the edge of
the box.
From
the resulting corner France finally went ahead. Payet received a short one to
cross from the right and Giroud bravely headed into the
left-hand corner under pressure from Tatarusanu. The lead lasted just eight
minutes, though, as Patrice Evra was penalised for a clumsy barge on Stanciu in
the area and Stancu coolly converted the penalty
low to his right.Giroud saw tentative penalty claims of his own for a tug from
Chiriches waved away by referee Viktor Kassai, but France were not to be
denied.With just one minute of normal time remaining, Payet picked up the ball on the right
and bent an unstoppable effort past Tatarusanu into the top left-hand corner,
before weeping tears of joy as he was replaced late on.
