Satisfied Deschamps sees room for improvement

PARIS — Late goals by Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet in Marseille secured the win against a stubborn Albania side as well as a slot in the last 16 in another late show for Euro 2016 hosts France. “This is becoming a bit of a habit, I’d prefer us to break the deadlock a bit earlier,” said coach Didier Deschamps afterwards.

Until the closing stages it had been a frustrating night as France, with Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman in for Griezmann and Paul Pogba, struggled to break down the well-drilled Albanians. Albania constantly threatened on the break in the first half, particularly from Napoli defender Elseid Hysaj down the right, and Ermir Lenjani down the left.

“It was tricky for everyone, Albania played with heart and spirit, they tried to score, they countered very quickly, but in the second half we were more aggressive,” he said.

As widely expected, Pogba replaced Martial at the start of the second half, helping the hosts to an improved performance against a backdrop of raucous noise from both sets of supporters at the first competitive match for Les Bleus at the Stade Velodrome since France’s triumphant 1998 World Cup campaign.

Payet was the main channel for French danger throughout, orchestrating waves of attacks through a tiring Albanian rearguard, but the game looked set for a draw until Griezmann made his move. A replacement for Coman, he rose with perfect timing in the 90th minute to meet Adil Rami’s cross from the right and place a header wide of Berisha.

“Some people were doubting him, but once again Griezmann showed what he can do,” said Deschamps. “Often it’s the players that come off the bench that make the difference.”

Six minutes later deep in stoppage time, the outstanding Payet, awarded man-of-the-match for the second game in a row, scored his second of the tournament to end the brave resistance of the Balkan minnows. “We have six points, we have qualified, clearly we didn’t do everything well but if you have seen a team that has, please tell me as I’ve watched the games as well,” said Deschamps. AFP