Belgium vs Romania Highlights: Belgium revive their Euro 2024 hopes with a 2-0 win

Belgium breathed life into their UEFA Euro 2024 campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Romania on Saturday. Having gone down 1-0 to Slovakia in a shock loss on the opening day, the Red Devils had a point to prove here, and did exactly that by netting inside 75 seconds of the kick-off through Youri Tielemans.

Embattled striker Romelu Lukaku appeared to had doubled their advantage midway through the second half but it was ruled out for offside following a VAR review. Then after seeing another attempt saved, Kevin De Bruyne took the matters into his own hands and made it 2-0 with a cool finish at the far post.

Romania fought hard, mustering 14 shots in the game of which five were on target, but Belgium’s superior quality eventually made the difference. Interestingly, all four sides in Group E – including Slovakia and Ukraine – are on three points ahead of the final group fixture. Belgium face Ukraine whereas Romania play Slovakia. Sportsdunia takes a look at the highlights of this game!

Belgium vs Romania Highlights

1′ – KICKOFF: Belgium kick the game off in Cologne Stadium

2′ – GOAL: Youri Tielemans fired Belgium in front with a confident strike from range after Romelu Lukaku laid it off for him

4′ – SAVE: Koen Castellls made a vital save to deny Ranu Dragusin as Romania looked for a swift response to falling behind

18′ – SAVE: Dodi Lukebakio saw a shot thwarted by Romanian ‘keeper Florin Nita

39′ – CHANCE: Wout Faes failed to deal with an incoming cross and Denis Dragus almost got a leg to it

45′ – HALF-TIME: Belgium 1-0 Romania

53′ – WIDE: Kevin De Bruyne curled a lovely effort but it flies narrowly wide

63′ – NO GOAL: Lukaku thought he had made it 2-0 for the Reds, but he was marginally offside in the buildup and the goal was thereby ruled out

67′ – DENIED: Lukaku’s tough luck in front of goal continued as his shot is parried away by Nita

80′ – GOAL: De Bruyne sealed it for Belgium with a fantastic strike

90′ – ADDED TIME: The referee has added two minutes of extra time

90+2′ – FULLTIME: Belgium 2-0 Romania; the Red Devils recover from their shock opening day loss to Slovakia to seal all three points here and boost their progression hopes

Player Of The Match: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)

Belgium’s dynamic playmaker, Kevin De Bruyne was the star of their show tonight with a scintillating display. He cut open Romania’s defense time and again with incisive passes and plucked the ball off them expertly to regain possession. De Bruyne finished with three key passes, eight crosses and 11 ground duels won, but most importantly, he netted their second goal of the evening to consolidate their victory.

Key Moments

Youri Tielemans gave Belgium a head-start into the game by scoring after only 75 seconds into the kick-off.

Key Stats

Belgium and Romania met for the first time since November 2012, but this was their first encounter in a major tournament.

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