Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon
France 2-1 Ireland
Antoine Griezmann (58′, 61′) Robbie Brady 2′ (pen.)
Robbie Brady put Ireland a goal up in the 2nd minute from the spot. France trailed the match for almost an hour. Two second half goals from Antoine Griezmann gave France the win they were expecting. France moves on to the quarterfinals and will wait for either England or Iceland. The two goals put Griezmann with Alvaro Morata and Gareth Bale as joint top goalscorers in the competition.
As the host, Group A winners and an undefeated side in the 2016 European Championship, France were favorite coming into this match. After Poland eliminated Switzerland the day before, France was the last team left in Group A.
Ireland had experienced every possible result in the 2016 Euros. Their last game was a win against Italy, so they were more than inspired when they started off their match with an early goal from an early penalty awarded.
France spent the rest of the first half trying to battle and inspired Rep. Ireland team that were tactically sound. Ireland was yet to score more than a goal in the competition, and France was yet to lose.
Two classy finishes from #FRA hero Griezmann ???#EURO2016 #FRAIRL pic.twitter.com/XsB8wPfXpT
— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) June 26, 2016
Going into halftime break a goal down meant that the French needed to put more into their offensive work, or the second 45 minutes of the match was going to be their final 45 minutes.
The halftime team talk was good to France, as they came from the break with an attacking mentality. Antoine Griezmann equalized in the 58th minute. A cross from Bacary Sagna was directed well by the head of Griezmann into the net.
Griezmann scored the winner three minutes after finding the equalizer for France. Olivier Giroud used his head to flick on a chipped shot from Adil Rami onto Griezmann, who was in an open position facing the goal. His low strike to the bottom corner missed every extremity to find the net. France was up 2-1 in the 61st minute.
Five minutes after going down a goal, Ireland went down a man. Shane Duffy received a red card in the 66th minute, after bringing down Antoine Griezmann in a position that could have possibly given the striker a hat-trick.
Andre-Pierre Gignac replaced Olivier Giroud in the 73rd minute. Had he been more clinical with his shot at goal, Gignac could have had at least two goals to his name.
France will need their second half performance for the rest of the tournament if they are to win another trophy as the host nation.
