Soccer
  • Home
  • Football
  • Romelu Lukaku Brace Guides Belgium To Win Over Russia Plus A Look Ahead To Sunday

Romelu Lukaku brace guides Belgium to win over Russia plus a look ahead to Sunday

Romelu Lukaku’s brace helps Belgium to a 3-0 win over Russia, taking them to the top of Group B in Euro 2020.

Belgium got their Euro 2020 campaign off to a good start with a 3-0 win over Russia in their first group stage game.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Thomas Meunier slotted home a rebounded shot to make it 2-0 in the 34th minute, capping off a dominant first-half display from the Belgians.

Belgium, Russia, Euro 2020, Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku pays tribute to his Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen after scoring against Russia

Russia tried to get back into the match in the second half with some very aggressive attacking football. However, Belgium stood firm, managing to secure another goal through Lukaku in the 88th minute to wrap up a 3-0 victory.

It was a textbook European powerhouse performance from the Red Devils, conserving energy by keeping hold of the ball and stifling Russia's attempts at getting back into the game.

You can read the full match report on our sister site Football365 here.

What's next for Belgium and Russia?

Russia will be looking to bounce back from their opening game defeat against Finland at 2pm (BST) on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Belgium's next game will be at 5pm on Thursday against Denmark, with a win almost certainly sealing their progression from the group.

What's next? - Sunday

England start their Euro 2020 campaign against Croatia on Sunday afternoon in the first of three fixtures, with the Three Lions having the slightly better head-to-head record. However, they will be looking to avenge the 2-1 defeat to Croatia that knocked them out of the World Cup three years ago.

England haven't set the world on fire in the build-up to this tournament, but they are on a six-match winning run and have only conceded one goal in this period. With both teams quite evenly matched, we're expecting a winning margin of just one goal, while always look for 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane to get on the scoresheet.

Kick-off is at 2pm and you can read our full betting preview here.

The first game of Group C takes place at 5pm, with Austria battling North Macedonia. This will be the tournament debut for the North Macedonians and they could end up taking something from an unfancied Austrian side.

At 8pm, another one of Europe's heavyweights enter the fray as the Netherlands take on Ukraine. The Dutch are lacking in star names this time around, but in the past, they have often been hampered by egos. We think they could slide under the radar at Euro 2020 and do better than expected, with Memphis Depay someone to keep an eye on. We also have some very interesting goalscorer bets for this game so check out our full betting preview here.

More Articles