After three relatively dour games on Saturday night, Sunday got off to a great start with a tense game which France emerged 2-1 victors over Ireland.
Robbie Brady gave Ireland an early lead thanks to Robbie Brady’s early penalty and held out to halftime. A second half double to Antoine Griezmann turned the game in France’s favour and they closed out the game from there.
Paul Pogba’s Time to Shine?
Much of the pregame discussion focused on the enigmatic Juventus midfielder and how much better he could be, but things could not have started in worse fashion with the concession of a penalty in the first 90 seconds.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Closely marked all afternoon, Pogba was on the receiving end of some physical challenges and will have some bruises to show for it, one in particular from a Shane Long shoulder that left him winded. Instead he opted to direct his teammates from the base of midfield instead of creating chances himself. When he did break forward his touch was just a bit too heavy to produce that magical moment fans would have loved to see.
Ireland Not Just Happy to Be Here
Irish coach Martin O’Neill promised his side would go down swinging if this was to be their final involvement in the tournament. It appeared as though they had learned from their first two games and knew that to have any chance of winning this game, they had to score.
The forward duo of Shane Long and Daryl Murphy put themselves about early on and gave the French defenders a few nervous moments but against a talented French side, their chances were few and far between.
A Physical Afternoon
France appeared to feel as though their best chance of breaking down the Irish rear-guard was by putting in as many crosses as possible.
That meant that the man with the unevenly shaven beard Olivier Giroud was in for a rough afternoon battling the Irish defenders. Every time the ball came in he had to wrestle, push and shove his way into a position where he might get the ball. When France tried to work the ball into the box on the ground Giroud found it very hard to get into space and read where his teammates wanted him to go. A slight adjustment in the second half saw France feeding the ball to the striker earlier on and asking him to feed onrushing midfielders and it worked to perfection.
The Dam Breaks
It took 55 minutes of sustained pressure after falling behind, but in the space of five minutes the French broke through and turned the game on its head.
Antoine Griezmann scored a quick brace to put France in the ascendency. The crossing strategy finally paid off as Griezmann made a run in behind Giroud and was able to score a well placed header off a Bacary Sagna cross.
GERMANY 3 SLOVAKIA 0
Soon after, that he doubled his tally, losing his man and latching on to a Giroud knock down, then placing a shot into the bottom corner of the goal. It could have been three when he was brought down by Shane Duffy just outside the box, denying him a one on one chance before Giroud got a bit confused and blocked the subsequent free kick. The red card to Duffy there essentially killed off the game as a contest. It was a bridge too far for a gallant Irish side who quite simply had given everything just to get to that point.
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