France almost drew a blank against a resilient and well organised Albanian outfit, only for Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet to score a dramatic last-gasp goals in Marseille.
In the first half France was frustrated and restricted to little goalmouth action, and in truth it was their opponents who looked more likely to break the deadlock.
Olivier Giroud crashed an effort against the post with little over 20 minutes remaining and his Arsenal teammate Laurent Koscielny wasted a golden opportunity from close range.
When it appeared Albania would pull off a major shock they were dealt a crushing blow in the 90th minute when a Adil Rami’s cross found Griezmann, who expertly headed the ball into the corner of the net.
Payet then rubbed salt into the wounds with a thunderous curling effort, following a surging counter-attack from the host nation.
Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter:
Well that’s the kinda luck that wins tournaments. But also takes quality in the forward positions too #FRAALB #EURO2016
— Kev Lennon (@kevlennon1) June 15, 2016
Griezmann’s goal was the F I R S T shot on target.#EURO2016 #FRAALB pic.twitter.com/CwS52UPX5b
— Onefootball (@Onefootball) June 15, 2016
France can’t just win. They have to win stylishly. #FRAALB
— John Gramlich (@johngramlich) June 15, 2016
Football can be cruel sometimes. The score line does not paint the true picture of what really transpired in the match #FRAALB
— Agboola Adigun (@AgboolaDaddy) June 15, 2016
That scoreline isn’t a true reflection of the match. France were not very good, tbh. Even in their first match. #FRAALB
— The gift of Hilton (@RealKingShxzzle) June 15, 2016
I’m a Spurs fan and I hate to say but I love Payet as a player. The guy bosses games #Payet #FRAALB
— Harry Charalambous (@HazSpur92) June 15, 2016
#FRAALB so sorry for Albania. Two games they deserved to draw. Cruel. France gonna win at this rate. Play badly six points so far
— Alastair Campbell (@campbellclaret) June 15, 2016
What it feels like to win 2-0 with the only two shots on target in the match #FRAALB pic.twitter.com/PZ7R5Bqag1
— bwin (@bwin) June 15, 2016
Benzema is somewhere thinking… “You can’t win without me.” I have to agree with him on that performance. #FRAALB #EURO2016
— TDM (@taiwoDM) June 15, 2016
Say what you want, but Gignac coming on changed the whole game. Giroud was a liability #FRAALB
— GÁGE (@Xogage) June 15, 2016
2-0 does not tell an accurate story of that game at all. Feel sorry for Albania! #FRAALB
— Adam Scholey (@AdamScholey) June 15, 2016
Only 6 days in and France are convincingly through. A strong shout for a home tournament success. #EURO2016 #FRAALB
— Tanel Kagan (@Tanel76) June 15, 2016
The pass from @paulpogba to start the build up for the 2nd goal is world class with a mix of Rooney, scholes and Carrick all over it #FRAALB
— Joydeep Das (@joydeep84) June 15, 2016
Dimitri Payet has named Man of the Match for #FRAALB.
He’s not been named Player of the Tournament…yet. #EURO2016
— Deji Kofi Faremi (@deejayfaremi) June 15, 2016
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
