Switzerland joined hosts France in the knockout round of the European Championship after securing a point in the last group stage game at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy this morning.
Didier Deschamps fielded a makeshift line-up with the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, Kingsley Coman and Andre-Pierre Gignac making the cut after Les Bleus secured qualification in the second Group A game against Albania last week. Vladimir Petkovic put his trust in a similar set of players but chose to start Breel Embolo ahead of Haris Seferovic.
The visitors were unsurprisingly the team with the higher possession as they were chasing a victory to ensure a top-spot finish in the group. However, they did not trouble Hugo Lloris once during the 90 minutes as they failed to get a single shot on target. The French side dominated in terms of shots at goal, tackles made and aerial duels won. The hosts were agonisingly close to scoring in each half when Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet hit the crossbar.
Albania won the other group stage match against Romania 1-0 after Armando Sadiku scored in the latter parts of the first half. They will be hoping for the likes of Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Portugal to lose to ensure a place in the next round.
Here are three players that impressed the most during the France and Switzerland game:
Granit Xhaka
Arsenal fans will be in for a treat when the new season commences in August because their new signing has been Switzerland’s best player in all three of their European Championship group stage matches. The hard-working and tenacious central midfielder covered every inch of grass against the host team and completed 89% of his 94 passes, which were more than Paul Pogba (46) and Yohan Cabaye (42) combined. He also won three aerial duels and tackles each and recovered the ball a staggering amount of ten times for his country.
Yohan Cabaye
The Crystal Palace midfielder was handed his first start in the European Championship and he will definitely cause some unrest to his manager after putting in such a solid display in the heart of midfield alongside ex-teammate Moussa Sissoko and Paul Pogba. He played an important part in recycling the momentum for his team and also produced a warrior-like display after making nine tackles in the match, which is the most in the tournament so far.
Paul Pogba
The French sensation was dropped in the previous game against Albania last week and he vowed to fight back for his spot and he did just that. The ex-Manchester United midfielder came the closest to scoring in the match when his attempt struck the crossbar in the first half. He had three other attempts and created three chances for his teammates to score.
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