8pm GMT Kick Off, Saint Petersburg Stadium, Euros 2020 Group B
Two First Half Goals And A Late One Saw Belgium Them Beat Russia 3-0 In Saint Petersburg.
Belgium took the three points in their fixture against Russia. Romelu Lukaku and Thomas Meunier scored the early goals, before Lukaku grabbed his second in the 89th minute, which secured the win in their first group fixture.
The first chance that Belgium had, they put it away. Dries Mertens tried to find Romelu Lukaku, but it was a poor cross. Luckily for the Belgians, the Russian defenders couldn’t get it cleared, Lukaku pounced on the chance and fired it past Anton Shunin to give the Red Devils an early lead.
Russia nearly hit back instantly through Mario Fernandes. A corner was whipped in, and the fullback rose and met the ball, however, it was directly at Thibaut Courtois.
Lukaku burst through the Russian defense and looked like he would get himself a second. He pulled it back to Leander Dendoncker on the edge of the box and he fired it way over the bar.
Belgium grabbed a second in the 34th minute through early substitute Thomas Meunier. A ball was played into the box which the keeper parried. Meunier was there on standby, had all the time in the net and slammed it into the net.
Towards the end of the half, Belgium’s tempo slowed down, with neither team having any chances which might have seen another goal.
The first chance of the second half was from Russia. Artem Dzyuba had a shot from just outside the box, but the referee blew the whistle just before the shot, as there was a foul in the buildup.
The second half saw a lot less chances, but Lukaku sealed the three points as he added a third just before the end of the game. Meunier played it into his path, he ran onto the ball and placed it into the corner of the net, as the game finished 3-0.
Belgium go top of their group alongside Finland, who beat Denmark 1-0 in their fixture.
Man Of The Match – Romelu Lukaku
Despite a lack of chances and opportunities in the second half, Lukaku was running the game in the first half.
He scored two of the few chances he had, made a number of runs to find space and was a serious danger to Russia throughout.
“File:RUS-2016-Aerial-SPB-Krestovsky Stadium 02.jpg” by Godot13 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Final Whistle 