Belgium marmalised Romania to kickstart their European Championship . Saturday night was alright for a fightback, and in front of a raucous crowd they turned the mood of their campaign entirely on its head. After a week of public utterances that suggested he was happy with the way his team had played against Slovakia , and insisting “losing has changed nothing in our mind”, Domenico Tedesco made four changes, refreshing every area of the field.
It took all of 73 seconds to register the difference as Youri Tielemans, in for Orel Mangala, finished off a sweeping Belgium move to open the scoring. The play began with Romelu Lukaku, the culprit of so many missed chances against Slovakia, driving deep into Romanian territory. He laid the ball off to Kevin De Bruyne, who in turn found Jérémy Doku.
The winger dinked across the edge of the box before finding Lukaku again on the penalty spot. The striker held off his man, saw Tielemans approaching and gently laid the ball to his feet and the Aston Villa midfielder drove low under the dive of Florin Nita. It was beautiful, graceful, football with a little bit of oomph for good measure, and Belgium continued in that vein for the rest of the first half.
Yes, within a couple of minutes Radu Dragusin had forced Koen Casteels into a great save with a header from a corner, but Belgium were producing wave after wave of danger. Romania, who had been so dominant against Ukraine , were lucky to be in the game by the mid-point. Dominant du.