Euro 2016: 1st round of match Reports

Euro 2016 has begun and as usual with a major international tournament, there has been plenty of entertainment. Here at The Sports Lowdown, we bring you a review of all the teams opening games.

France 2-1 Romania-Group A

The hosts, France, kicked things off with the opening fixture against Romania. France started the match off on the front foot and enjoyed good chances, however they looked shaky at the back in defence. Griezmann had some good chances early on, but was denied by keeper Tatarusanu, and Payet was also denied good chances by the shot stopper. Romania did take advantage of France’s leaky defence and striker Stancu had some great chances denied by great saves from Lloris.

Half Time 0-0

France started off slowly in the second half however they eventually began to show their attacking power when Payet crossed delicately into the box, finding Giroud’s head after the keeper missed the ball, to give the hosts the lead. But the French advantage didn’t last long though, when Evra fouled Stancu in the box and the referee gave a penalty. Stancu stepped up and scored to make it 1-1. Romania then looked like they were most likely to score with Lloris making some great saves, however on the 89th minute, Kante’s pass found Payet outside the box, before the West Ham man curled home into the top corner. France managed to keep hold of the lead and it finished 2-1 to France.

MOTM-Dimitri Payet-Payet had a great game for France and showed why he was one of the better Premier League players last season. He created many good chances for France as well as scoring one and creating the other goal.

Albania 0-1 Switzerland-Group A

Albania are playing in their first ever European Championships and they will want to impress. Switzerland started off the better team when Shaqiri provided the first chance of the game for Switzerland as his cross found Schar’s head which put the ball in the back of the net in the fifth minute. After Switzerland’s goal, Albania started to look the better team, however it got worse for Albania when Cana handled the ball just outside the box and got his second yellow card, reducing Albania to 10 men.

Half Time 0-1

In the second half both teams had good chances to score and both keepers were in good form. Swiss striker Seferovic had a great shot saved from Albanian keeper Berisha, and Swiss keeper Sommer was quite busy too. Albania looked to be a better side than Switzerland, but the man disadvantage cost them the points as Switzerland managed to hold on to the one goal advantage that they had.

MOTM-Xherdan Shaqiri- Shaqiri proved to be useful for Switzerland providing key chances in attack as well as extra cover at the back. He provided the cross for the goal that Seferovic put away and had a good game in general.