Olivier Giroud was unfortunate not to score against Serbia, France coach Didier Deschamps has said despite the striker being booed off against Serbia.
Euro 2016 hosts France claimed a 2-1 win in Bordeaux on Monday thanks to a double from Blaise Matuidi. Aleksandar Mitrovic pulled one back for Serbia five minutes before half-time.
But it was a difficult night for Arsenal forward Giroud, who saw three chances to get his name on the scoresheet go begging before he was withdrawn to jeers from the fans at the Stade Atlantique in the 62nd minute.
However, Deschamps said: "He also helped during the game [Giroud].
"He got unlucky on a few chances because the goalkeeper made a great save. He got three clear opportunities.
"One was not on target, a header close from the goal-frame. Obviously if he had been more efficient the score would have been much higher.
"In his role he made a lot of effort. I always leave a lot of freedom to the three offensive players so he also had to counterbalance.
"Obviously he knows about it. He's the first to be sad about his lack of efficiency.
"But it happens sometimes. If it's not Olivier, it might be Karim [Benzema]. The performance of the entire team remains of a great level."
