Two goals canceled in thirty minutes. The Euro for Belgium and Lukaku begins with a defeat (and a negative record). Trailing by a goal after just seven minutes, the “red devils” tried twice to overturn the match against Slovakia, in both cases with the Roma striker. But what happened?
Who is Lukaku? Height, age, career, multilingualism: all the secrets of the Belgian striker
The game
At Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, the first surprise of the 2024 European Championships in Germany was offered by coach Calzona’s Slovakia, who beat Belgium 1-0 in the second match of Group E. The match was decided by a goal from Slavia Prague striker Schranz after 7 minutes. With these three points, Slovakia joins Romania at the top of the group, with Ukraine and Belgium on zero points. The road becomes difficult for the national team of Tedesco, on paper favorite of the group, which can regret two canceled goals to Lukaku and several missed opportunities.
The Red Devils hit the ground running and were already dangerous in the 3rd minute. From the 3rd minute, Doku’s first impressive breakthrough, who escaped with the ball from his own camp and entered the opponent’s area. Pass for De Bruyne who sees his shot blocked, but on the rebound, Lukaku has the advantage ball in an excellent position but shoots it at Dubravka. In the 5th minute, Lukaku receives the ball in the box and passes Dubravka, but he is forced to push the ball too far, it is collected by Trossard, who looks to the center and crosses: safe catch from Dubravka. But in the 7th minute, Slovakia took the lead. Unforgivable lightness from Doku, who misses the clearance near his corner post, delivery from Bozenik and shot from Kucka, Casteels pushes back with his fists, but on the rebound, Schranz scores. In the 15th minute, Belgium tried to react: Doku refocused and shot from the left, a shot repelled by the Slovak defense. In the 22nd minute, Belgium comes close to equalizing: error by Dubravka, pressed high by De Bruyne, the ball arrives to Trossard, who can aim from afar with the empty goal: shot over the bar. Shortly after the half hour, a good action from Slovakia, which still starts at the feet of Lobotka, passes to Bozenik who works the ball with his back to goal then turns around: right shot saved by Casteels. In the 40th minute, a superb volley from Haraslin and a superb save from the Belgian goalkeeper. In the 42nd minute, a big mistake from Lukaku, a pass from Carrasco who puts him in front of Dubravka, but the Chelsea striker misses control and the ball is lost outside the goal.
At the start of the second half, De Bruyne launched Doku, a good closeout in the area from Vavro. Shortly after, Haraslin converges from the left and shoots from the right, the ball a whiff of the post. In the 7th minute, Vavro attempted a right shot from more than 30 meters, Casteels accompanied him out of the goal. Belgium increases the pressure on the Slovak defense. In the 15th minute, Trossard’s shot and Dubravka pushes back with his fists. In the 18th minute, again Lukaku who crosses with a right volley from an off-center position: ball on the outside side of the net. In the 20th minute, Doku’s umpteenth breakthrough, ball in the center deflected by Dubravka and recovered by Bakayoko: point-blank right shot saved on the line by Hancko, who then hits his head against Vavro’s knee. A few moments of worry, but the Slovak defender then gets up. In the 27th minute, providential closure from Lobotka, who stops Doku in the area in a very dangerous situation. In the 35th minute, corner from De Bruyne for Onana who jumps higher than everyone but does not find the goal. At the end of the match, the Belgian assault continued but only produced a shot from De Bruyne blocked on the ground by Dubravka.
Lukaku’s goals canceled, what happened
Two goals canceled for the Roma striker, one for offside, the other for a handball. The first in the 11th minute: cross from Trossard at the corner of the penalty area, delivery of Onana’s header and recovery from the former interist in an offside position. The second, after thirty minutes: in the 41st minute, in fact, the new entrant Openda escapes to the left in the duel with Vavro. Ball in the center and winning shot with the left foot of the Belgian number 10. The VAR, however, detects contact with Openda’s hand. All this, thanks to a chip inside the ball, installed precisely to detect hand faults.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This article is automatically translated
Read the full article on
Il Messaggero
