Read the full match report here:
Right, that’s it from me. Thank you for all the emails and tweets. Stick around on site for all the reports and reaction from Lyon, and join Daniel Harris for the next last-16 tie. But from me, cheerio!
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Well, France march on to the last eight (with a very handy week off until then – funny that, eh?) and a meeting with either Iceland or England. The Republic of Ireland must lick their wounds and set their sights on World Cup qualification in 2018 – after their last two performances in this tournament, they should be very optimistic about getting there.
Full-time: France 2-1 Republic of Ireland
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEEEEP!!! It’s all over. A fine, brave effort from Ireland. A very impressive comeback from France in the second half.
90+4 min: Rami gets his head on the end of one last Randolph launch forward and that’s that.
90+3 min: Coman goes off, Sissoko on.
90+3 min: Passpasspasspass from France. PasspasspasspassandthenGriezmannshouldscorebutRandolphsaves.
90+2 min: We’re already deep into three minutes of added time.
90+1 min: Long goes down in the box, looking for a penalty. Didn’t look like much of a shout to me.
90 min: … hammered away by Rami.
89 min: Randolph’s clearance bounces through – Ireland throw in level with the edge of the France box …
87 min: Gignac scuffs another shot wide from the edge of the box.
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86 min: Walters spanks a shot a couple of yards wide from the edge of the box.
85 min: Gignac misses a sitter eight yards out after Matuidi’s low cross into the box.
84 min: Walters tumbles on the edge of the box as Ireland tentatively look to build an attack but Rizzoli isn’t interested.
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82 min: France have been much better in midfield since Kanté went off – and the Leicester man won’t be in the side for the quarter-finals thanks to his second booking.
81 min: Superb save from Randolph. Matuidi thumps a shot in from the angle and the West Ham keeper acrobatically turns it away. Ireland can’t clear though, and eventually Griezmann is an inch away from getting on the end of a cross.
79 min: France force a series of corners but the Ireland defence stands strong.
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77 min: Much better from Gignac – this time he cuts inside and curls a wonderful effort against the crossbar.
76 min: A brilliant Coman pass splits the Irish defence and puts Gignac through. He should probably cut back to Griezmann but instead he cracks a poor effort straight at Randolph.
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74 min: Coman forces a corner. Only one side look like adding to the score at the moment, and it’s not Ireland.
71 min: Just before the sending-off, Walters replaced Murphy. And just afterwards John O’Shea came on for McClean. And just now Hoolahan came on for McCarthy and Gignac replaced Giroud.
70 min: “It seems to me that Giroud, for all his lumbering Giroudness, is responsible for both of Griezmann goals,” writes Kari Tulinius, not unfairly. “The second with a great knockdown, the first because three Irish defenders rushed to cover him, leaving pint sized Griezmann with a free header.”
68 min: Poor old Shane Duffy. Still, he’s been through worse and come through it.
67 min: After some rather needless messing about in the wall – Giroud threw himself to the ground at one point – Griezmann slams the free-kick off the Arsenal man and away for a goal-kick.
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RED CARD! Shane Duffy sent off
66 min: Ireland are carved open once more, Giroud feeds Griezmann who is through on goal again. Duffy slides in desperately and brings him down just outside the box. He’s off and France have a free-kick in the D.
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65 min: McClean gets in behind Rami but his pull-back is not really directed at a team-mate (and there were two available). Koscielny clears.
63 min: A new test for Ireland, then, but they should take heart from the knowledge that they’ve troubled their hosts on a number of occasions. One more France goal, though, would surely be curtains.
GOAL! France 2-1 Republic of Ireland (Griezmann 61)
In the first half the possession stats were 55-45 in France’s favour, now they’re 76-24 and the Republic just can’t cope with the pressure. A long ball forward finds Giroud, who drags two defenders out of the way, and his nod down is perfectly played to Griezmann. He thumps his shot past Randolph from 10 yards.
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61 min: Payet curls a shot from distance just over the bar.
60 min: Ireland immediately trouble the France defence once more, with the ball breaking loose to Ward on the edge of the box. His sidefoot effort looks to be heading towards the top corner but pings away off a France defender. The referee inexplicably awards a goal kick.
GOAL! France 1-1 Republic of Ireland (Griezmann 58)
France are back in it. And it’s been coming since the break really. Sagna delivers a cracking cross from the right and Griezmann, on the penalty spot, plants his header past Randolph.
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55 min: Fine save from Randolph! Matuidi spanks a shot from distance and this time the Ireland keeper is forced off his feet, making a flying save to his right.
54 min: Payet cuts inside and looks to crash a shot at goal – McCarthy makes the block.
53 min: At the other end, Payet zips a low shot a yard or so wide.
52 min: A rare Ireland attack and a brilliant low ball in from McClean forces Lloris into a sprawling save, turning the ball away from the onrushing Long.
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51 min: Giroud bundles McCarthy over on the edge of the Ireland box to give away a pressure-relieving free-kick.
49 min: Just wide! The free-kick is flicked on and gets through to Koscielny on the back post – but his diving header is a yard wide. That was a real chance.
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48 min: Payet shimmies through and wins a free-kick from Seamus Coleman, who is walking a disciplinary tightrope.
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47 min: Predictably France start on the front foot, with the full-backs both attempting crosses.
46 min: 44.
Peep! Off we go again – 45 minutes stand between the Republic of Ireland and the quarter-finals.
A half-time change for France: Kanté off, Coman on.
Some half-time reading? How about Sid Lowe on Italy v Spain?
That was one of the most entertaining halves of football we’ve had at the tournament so far. O’Neill’s team have been nothing short of magnificent. France have looked nervous and underpowered at the back, disjointed in midfield (the excellent Pogba apart) and either too frenzied (Griezmann and Payet) or too ponderous (Giroud) in attack.
Half-time: France 0-1 Republic of Ireland
Peep! PEEEP!! And the other three are negotiated with little fuss.
45+1 min: And the first of them begins with Ireland throwing bodies in the way of shots from Payet and then Griezmann from the rebound.
45 min: Four minutes of added time to play.
44 min: Rami is the latest name in the book – he Took One For The Team as Long looked to break. He’ll also miss any quarter-final.
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42 min: Duffy nods wide from the free-kick but every time the ball goes into the French box there’s a sense of panic.
41 min: Hendrick is booked for kicking the ball away after winning a free-kick in midfield. He’ll miss the quarter-final if Ireland get there. There’s a frenzied, frazzled pace to the game.
40 min: Sagna plants a cross straight at Randolph.
39 min: … Brady whips the ball in and Lloris plucks it from the Lyon sky.
38 min: Long does brilliantly to force a corner from Evra …
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37 min: Rami just does enough as Murphy looks to feed a charging James McClean.
36 min: Hendrick slooooowwwlly hobbles off, which displeases the French support further. He looks like he’ll be OK to continue.
34 min: Jeff Hendrick drops to the turf for some treatment after a whack on the calf from Pogab. Cue a cacophony of whistles from the home fans.
33 min: “Ireland just had to go and score in the second minute, didn’t they?” writes JR. “I had prepared myself for a lot of different eventualities in this game but desperately hanging on to a lead for 88 minutes wasn’t one of them. This is excruciating.”
32 min: Murphy is penalised for backing in to Koscielny on the edge of the France box, which looked a bit harsh.
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31 min: Ireland have kept France at arms length of seven or eight minutes now – probably their best spell of the game.
29 min: Shane Long and Patrice Evra have one of those both-kick-the-ball-at-the-same-time moments that can be really painful. He gets some treatment too.
27 min: Kanté goes into Rizzoli’s book of Very Bad Boys for a trip in the centre circle. He’ll miss the quarter-final should France get there.
25 min: Seamus Coleman picks up a booking for clipping Payet from behind.
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24 min: … instead it’s Pogba, who curls towards the top corner. Randolph scampers across and claws the ball. Fine effort, and good goalkeeping.
23 min: Another France free-kick, Hendrick on Pogba this time. This is central, on the borders of Payet country …
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22 min: At the other end, Griezmann spanks a shot at goal, straight at Randolph (who has now made three or four saves without needing to get his knees dirty). This is breathless stuff.
21 min: From a throw-in, France are yet again at sixes and sevens at the back. The ball drops to Murphy, who hooks at shot goalwards. Lloris makes a sprawling save.
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20 min: The magic sponge has done its mystical work and Pogba is OK to continue.
19 min: A brief pause while Pogba gets some treatment. “Normally the exit of a host nation brings down the atmosphere of a tournament, but the Irish fans could carry the general feeling of bonhomie all the way to the final,” reckons Andy Gordon. Those in Lyon are certainly enjoying themselves at the moment.
18 min: Griezmann flicks on Payet’s free-kick and Randolph is grateful to see the ball float to him at head height.
17 min: Long bundles into Pogba to concede a cheap free-kick in the middle of the Ireland half.
15 min: A skewed Koscielny header puts Lloris under a bit of pressure and Long forces him to punch away for an Ireland throw. Which plops straight back to the France goalkeeper.
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13 min: This is not going to end 1-0. Another ball into the channel from Ireland puts France on the back foot once more.
12 min: A terrific defensive header from the aforementioned Duffy prevents Giroud getting on the end of a wonderful Griezmann ball into the box. Superb defending.
11 min: Ireland build their first attack since the goal via Shane Duffy’s long free-kick and again the France defence doesn’t look comfortable against Long and Murphy. A loose pass from Long ends the attack but there have been good signs for Ireland so far.
10 min: Another fizzing corner from the left is cleared at the front post. It’s been all France since the goal.
9 min: Pogba again holds off a couple of defenders before jabbing a wonderful cross into the box. Griezmann gets on the end of it, but heads well over.
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8 min: … on target but curled straight into the chest of his West Ham team-mate Randolph.
6 min: France get their collective foot on the ball for the first time. Pogba strolls through a couple of challenges and feeds Payet, who pulls back to Evra, His cross hits an Irish hand. Free-kick, right on the corner of the box …
4 min: Payet drills in a corner which Ireland make a meal of dealing with but eventually the ball finds its way back to Randolph.
3 min: What a start for Martin O’Neill’s side. They had 40 seconds of possession before Randolph went long, sparking an attack from which the French defence struggled to organise themselves.
GOAL! France 0-1 Rep of Ireland (Brady 2pen)
Brady slams his penalty off the inside of the post. Ireland lead!
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PENALTY TO IRELAND!
1 min: Oh my word! Pogba has clumsily bundled into Shane Long in the box. Nailed on penalty! Up steps Robbie Brady …
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Peep! Off we go! “After three stinkers yesterday (of different skill levels, to be sure, but stinkers just the same) we’re owed a classic today,” fate-tempts Charles Antaki. “So we rely on footballers’ civic conscience. In other words, probably another three stinkers.”
The anthems have been belted out – La Marseillaise with predictable gusto inside the Stade de Lyon – and kick-off is now imminent.
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Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel.
It sounds like a cracking atmosphere is building in Lyon. The 5,000-odd Ireland fans will have to go some do drown out the support for Les Bleus.
“I think the referee will be key,” writes Patrick Cullen. “Ireland can’t compete with the skill of the French, but if they’re allowed to use their physicality they might be in with a chance of causing an upset. If they can put in a couple of tough tackles and ‘impose’ themselves from the start, I think they can take it to extra time or even sneak the win. If the referee sets a tough line and brings out the yellow card within the first 20 minutes though, I foresee an easy win for France.”
Well, as Ken Early has pointed out on Twitter, Rizzoli is the official who let this challenge from Manuel Neuer on Gonzalo Higuain go unpunished at the World Cup:
A bit of pre-game reading (and listening)
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So Martin O’Neill names an unchanged team. France make four changes from the draw with Switzerland – N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Dimitri Payet and Olivier Giroud are back in in for Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, Kingsley Coman and Andre-Pierre Gignac.
The teams
France (4-3-3): Lloris; Sagna, Rami, Koscielny, Evra; Pogba, Kanté, Matuidi; Griezmann, Giroud, Payet. Subs: Mandanda, Cosil, Jallet, Cabaye, Gignac, Martial, Schneiderlin, Mangala, Digne, Sissoko, Coman, Umtiti.
Republic of Ireland (4-4-2): Randolph; Coleman, Keogh, Duffy, Ward; Brady, McCarthy, Hendrick, McClean; Long, Murphy. Subs: Westwood, Given, Clark, O’Shea, Whelan, McGeady, Keane, Walters, Christie, Meyler, Hoolahan, Quinn.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Preamble
“There is no revenge in football,” said Didier Deschamps this week. Hmm. Perhaps the France manager needs to ask what the name Alf-Inge Haaland means to one of those in the Irish dugout in Lyon this afternoon. Or perhaps read one of these tales of vengeance from our Seven Deadly Sins Of Football series:
Big Jack’s black book - Leeds United, 1970
Think of it as an early Facebook for misanthropes: while playing as a centre-half with Leeds United, Jack Charlton had a couple of people he wanted to keep in contact with, but not in the conventional sense – his little black book contained the names of players who had wronged him on the pitch, and whom he planned to strike down with great vengeance and furious anger. “I have a little black book with two players in it, and if I get a chance to do them I will. I will make them suffer before I pack this game in. If I can kick them four years over the touch line, I will.”
Dean gets the wrong man Liverpool, 1941
Dixie Dean was a goalscorer without parallel, a man with 43 career hat-tricks to his name who took advantage of the change in the offside law to score 60 goals for Everton in the 1927-28 season. He was also a fiery character. Aged 17 he lost a testicle after a brutal foul by an Altrincham centre-half. Dean believed his attacker was a man called Davy Parks. He happened to bump into Parks 17 years later in a pub in Liverpool. “He sent me a pint across the bar,” Dean later recalled. “I couldn’t quite place the face for a time, but then I did. And I thumped him ... they took him to hospital.” Unfortunately both for Dean and the drinker concerned, subsequent reports established that his assailant had in fact been a man called Molyneux.
El Loco’s revenge – Ecuador 2002
The toothbrush moustache, the swept over hairstyle and a tendency to make expansive gestures: Abdalá “El Loco” Bucaram, former president of Ecuador, certainly had all the trappings of the vaguely loopy, big-ego politician. Nobody has ever been able to prove that the shooting of Ecuador national team coach Hernán Darío Gómez (who led the side to the 2002 World Cup) - who took a bullet in his leg while minding his own business in a Bogota bar - had anything to do with Gomez’s refusal to pick Bucaram’s son in any of his squads. But most Ecuadorians suspect a Bucaram sympathiser with a pathological sense of familial loyalty. No one was ever charged over the attack, and the ex-president himself was in exile when the attack took place. At the time, head coach Gómez had already threatened to resign after hearing an untrue report that Bucaram’s son had been included in the under-20 squad against his wishes. That’s commitment for you.
Maradona strikes back - Barcelona, 1983
The miracle of Diego Maradona is that he excelled in an era when defenders could get away with, if not murder, than at least ABH. They had licence to stop him by foul means or fouler, but only once did he really suffer: while playing for Barcelona in September 1983 he had his ankle scrunched to pieces by a deliberate hack from behind by the Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea, who revelled in the name “The Butcher of Bilbao”. Goikoetxea put the offending boot in a glass jar in his lounge, just next to his dignity. Later that season, in his final game for Barcelona, Maradona responded by trying to maim the entire Bilbao team in a spectacular bar-room brawl of a fight after Bilbao had beaten Barça in the Copa del Rey final to complete the double.
You get the idea. Revenge in football is definitely A Thing, regardless of what Deschamps may think. And though the Ireland camp have been pretty clear that this definitely positively isn’t about payback, no sirree, for Thierry Henry’s handball back in 2009, how sweet would it be for Martin O’Neil’s team to oust the host nation? It’s unlikely, true, given the players at Deschamps disposal and the Republic’s stuttering form in the group stage but they come into this last-16 tie buoyed by a victory over Italy. Yes, a slightly disinterested Italy, but Italy nevertheless.
The pressure is all on the host nation and if the game is a cagey affair – which would not be a surprise given the last 16 ties we’ve had so far – then who’s to say the underdogs can’t pinch it by the odd goal?
Kick-off: 2pm BST
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