A quickfire second-half double from Antoine Griezmann gave France a 2-1 Euro 2016 round-of-16 win against Republic of Ireland in Lyon.

Ireland made the perfect start when Robbie Brady put them ahead from the penalty spot in the second minute after Paul Pogba fouled Shane Long in the area.

Griezmann headed France level from 12 yards out to bring the home crowd to life in the 57th minute.

Four minutes later, a smart finish from the same player put France in front as Olivier Giroud dragged two defenders out of position and nodded a long ball into the Atletico Madrid striker's  path.

Ireland's problems were compounded in the 66th minute when Shane Duffy was sent off for a late challenge on Griezmann as he raced through on goal -- and there was to be no way back.

Julian Draxler scored one and made another as Germany eased into the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Slovakia.

Germany will now face the winner of Monday's round-of-16 tie between Italy and Spain in Bordeaux next weekend.

Joachim Low's side were on top throughout against the Slovaks on Lille's relaid pitch and coasted through with goals from Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez and Draxler. They could even afford a Mesut Ozil failure from the penalty spot.

Boateng volleyed home his first-ever international goal from 23 yards out to give Germany an early lead. Martin Skrtel then needlessly pushed Mario Gomez in the back in the area, conceding a penalty. But Ozil's spot kick, fired to the keeper's left, was at a good height for Kozacik and he kept it out.

The second goal came when Draxler danced past his man on the left flank and got to the byline before cutting the ball back for Gomez, who had the simple task of sidefooting home.

Any hope Slovakia had of forcing their way back into the game was effectively ended in the 63rd minute when Draxler capped off a fine performance with a volleyed third goal.

Belgium cruised into the quarterfinals and set up a meeting with Wales by beating Hungary 4-0 at Euro 2016.

Toby Alderweireld gave Belgium the lead and they went on to waste a glut of chances before two goals in 94 seconds after the break put things beyond any doubt.

Substitute Michy Batshuayi and Eden Hazard, who was outstanding all evening, struck before Yannick Carrasco wrapped up the scoring with a fourth in stoppage time.

Marc Wilmots' team will now head to Lille to take on Wales, with the winner of that tie facing either Poland or Portugal in the semifinals.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ESPN staff

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