Euro 2016: Group Scores, Highlights and Twitter Reaction from Friday Result

Thierry Henry felt Dimitri Payet rescued France, after the West Ham United forward scored a wonder goal in the final two minutes to help the hosts kick off UEFA Euro 2016 with a 2-1 victory over Romania at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday.

Former France international turned media pundit Henry felt Payet's terrific winner salvaged a struggling team, per Squawka News:

Henry had been left stunned and prompted into a standing ovation when Payet curled in the winner, according to BBC Radio 5 live Sport:

Payet's brilliant strike from outside the box erased Bogdan Stancu's equaliser from the penalty spot after Olivier Giroud had given France the lead in the second half.

BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand felt Payet proved a point about his ability to influence major matches:

The result means the hosts are now the early pace setters in Group A.

Quality in forward areas eventually told for the French, but only after they overcame a sluggish start. Romania had carved out some promising early chances that called goalkeeper Hugo Lloris into early action.

The best of those opportunities came in less than five minutes when Lloris denied Romania forward Stancu from point-blank range. The tournament's official site captured an image of the splendid stop:

BBC Radio 5 Live Sport commentator Conor McNamara summed up the save succinctly:

France soon posed their own threat, though. It came from under-fire centre-forward Giroud, who headed wide when he might have done better.

Fans have criticised the Arsenal target man in the run-up to this tournament, but Oliver Kay of the Times noticed a change in attitude, despite the early miss:

Antoine Griezmann was the next to go close, but his header smacked off the upright. Telegraph Football relayed an image of the miss:

Griezmann soon went close again when Payet picked him out with another astute pass. As Bleacher Report's Daniel Tiluk noted, this exciting partnership was already showing signs of life:

Romania's best threat came when they attacked the left side of the French back four. Alex Baker of Yahoo Soccer identified the chief culprit for Les Bleus:

Another Giroud miss summed up a half that Squawka described with two words:

It had been a tepid, disappointing display from the French, but BT Sport host Gary Lineker still lauded the quality in one area of their team:

Still, Lineker felt a key change was needed up front:

Lineker wasn't the only one who wondered whether Anthony Martial could do better. Aaron West of Fox Sports thought the same:

Giroud's profligacy might have proved costly had Stancu not spurned another glorious chance for Romania, this one in the opening minutes of the second half.

Men in Blazers offered a sarcastic put-down of the misfiring 28-year-old:

Soon, though, Giroud silenced the by-now tiresome avalanche of criticism when he headed in the opener. To his credit, the irony was not lost on Lineker:

Giroud may have gone from villain to hero, but Patrice Evra stayed stuck to the former identity when his clumsy challenge gifted Romania a penalty, one that Stancu dispatched to equalise. 

B/R's Jonathan Johnson didn't mince words when lamenting Evra's rash moment:

Romania grew in confidence after their goal and were also aided by more dire finishing from the French. It was left to Payet to show the rest how it's done with a magnificent, curling shot from the edge of the box.

FootballGifs relayed the highlight:

"

Goal: #fra 2-1 #rom, Payet: pic.twitter.com/SQ6omfwWsi

— FootballGIFs (@GIFsFootie) June 10, 2016"

BBC pundit Alan Shearer felt Payet's classy display merited the winning goal:

Meanwhile, Gabby Logan of the BBC also praised Payet's magic moment:

As for Payet, he was left in a state of disbelief after netting the winner:

The French may not have embellished their credentials to win the tournament with this display, but they did offer a reminder of the number of match-winners in their squad.

With the likes of Griezmann and Paul Pogba disappointing on the night, manager Didier Deschamps' men could still turn to Payet.

Being loaded with this many game-changers is a good omen for the home squad.