Lukaku Shines As Belgium Begin Euros On A High
13 June, 2021
Belgium 3-0 Russia
Romelu Lukaku and Belgium sent a note to the others of European Championship sides with a 3-0 win over Russia within their Group B opener on Saturday night.
Dedrick Boyata and Thorgan Hazard were drafted into the side from the make an impression on Croatia. Real Madrid's Eden Hazard was only named on the bench while Kevin de Bruyne missed out completely.
Even without Eden Hazard and De Bruyne, the Belgian Red Devils broke the deadlock after just nine minutes as Lukaku latched onto a pass from Dries Mertens before firing in to the bottom corner.
Both sides were forced into first-half changes at the midway point, as Thomas Meunier replaced Timothy Castagne for Belgium while Russia threw on Denis Cheryshev for the injured Daler Kuzyayev.
The change for Belgium became a blessing in disguise as Meunier doubled the lead for his side with a neat finish from close range after getting on the finish half Thorgan Hazard's cross.
The Belgians practically added a third goal right before the break through Yannick Carrasco, who skipped past a couple challenges before firing just over the crossbar.
Russia saw a bit more of the ball in the opening 20 minutes of the next half but were not able to carve out any serious chances at Thibaut Courtois' goal.
Roberto Martinez responded with a change for Belgium on 72 minutes, with Mertens making way for Eden Hazard as the world's number 1 ranked side looked to improve their advantage.
The Belgians did have the ability to bag the 3rd goal as Lukaku completed his brace with a first-time finish beyond Anton Shunin after being played in by Munier.
Denmark 0-1 Finland
Denmark suffered a 1-0 defeat to Finland on the return to the field after Christian Eriksen had collapsed in the first half.
The clash with Finland was in the beginning suspended after Eriksen collapsed on the field right before the halftime break.
With the Inter Milan star stabilised and at the hospital, UEFA confirmed that the match would continue at the request of the players at 20h30.
The match found with four minutes left in the first half, with Brentford star Mathias Jensen replacing Eriksen in the midfield.
The Danes continued to dominate upon resumption of the next half, with Thomas Delaney trying his luck from distance on two occasions in the opening ten minutes.
However, it had been Finland who broke the deadlock with their first attack on goal in the 58th minute when Joel Pohjanpalo nodded home from close range by making use of Kasper Schmeichel's handling error.
Denmark were handed a lifeline on 73 minutes after being awarded a penalty when Yussuf Poulsen was brought down in the box, nevertheless they were unable to make the most as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's spot-kick was saved by Lukas Hradecky.
The Danes threw everything forward but were not able to breakdown Finland, who claim their first win at a major international tournament.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za