Dimitri Payet nearly brought the house down with a spectacular volley (76′) that would have perfectly capped Moussa Sissoko’s barnstorming run and cross from the right flank – but his effort crashed off the woodwork and France had to make do with a 0-0 draw against a Switzerland side that had run hard all evening but shown little threat going forward.
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Switzerland counterpart Vladimir Petkovic said the pitch had definitely affected the quality of the game.
Romania managed to hit the crossbar once while Albania’s Mërgim Mavraj almost settled the game towards the end, when he came close to scoring.
Payet, on one occasion, came close to socring when he smashed the ball off the underside of the Swiss crossbar.
“It will be very hard be-cause Albania are a very good team, they run a lot and are very aggressive”.
One of five changes to the France team saw Andre-Pierre Gignac replace striker Olivier Giroud, who risked suspension if he picked up another yellow card. The two converged on the ball and it burst, with Behrami picking showing it to Slovenian referee Damir Skomina.
“Everyone hopes we play better, the players do and so do I”, Deschamps said.
“I am not blind”.
The outstanding Ledian Memushaj was crucial in keeping the Romanian defence occupied while Armando Sadiku’s header just before halftime was all the motivation the Albanians needed as the door for a last-16 spot cracked open.
Griezmann, who had played a fine one-two with Gignac, could not wrap his weaker right foot around the ball from 18 yards as Sommer tipped his effort over the bar, before Payet was introduced to a rapturous reception from the home crowd.
“If the goalkeeper is man of the match it really tells you how it went”, Deschamps said, adding he had wanted a third win, but was content to have topped Group A. “He was the heart and soul”.
Albania now have a few days’ wait to find out whether their three points from Group A will be enough to take them through to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. RealSport looks as what Albania need to change if they are to even have a sniff of knockout football.
Thanks to Pogba, it seemed like France’s midfield dominance might make the difference in the first half, but good situations were wasted. Sommer made some important saves to deny France a goal.
But 18 minutes into the second half Deschamps grew exhausted of waiting and threw on Payet for Coman, to the roar of the fans awaiting their new hero.
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But having scored an 89th-minute victor against Romania in a 2-1 win and an injury-time strike in the 2-0 win against Albania, he could not repeat it this time.
