Belgium entered the tournament as the favourites and they issued a statement with a comfortable win over Russia thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Thomas Meunier.
Belgium tested the waters in the first few minutes with some intricate play and a few long balls while Russia struggled to get the ball out of their half. It was in the 9th minute when the Russian defence fumbled a long ball by Dries Mertens and Lukaku was quick to latch on to it.
Russia started playing more positively after going down and managed to win a few set pieces in the Belgian half but the reds still looked more likely to score. In the 26th minute, Daler Kuzyaev and Thomas Meunier clashed near the centre circle. Castagne came out of it worse than his counterpart and had to be replaced by Thomas Meunier. Kuzyaev initially looked okay to continue but was eventually withdrawn and replaced by Denis Cheryshev.
Meunier made an instant impact as he doubled Belgium lead in the 34th minute. Thorgan Hazard whipped a delicious cross that was palmed by Anton Shunin straight at the Dortmund fullback. Both the first half goals came after unforced errors by the Russian defence.
Russia started the 2nd half with a very high team press that caused the Belgian midfield and defence a few problems. Russia used 4 of the 5 allowed substitutions by the 63rd minute itself but still couldn't conjure a big chance. Lukaku latched on to a Thomas Meunier through ball in the 88th to make it 3-0 and secure 3 points for Belgium.
Belgium had a total of 9 shots, 4 of them being on target. Apart from Goalscorers Lukaku and Meunier, Yannick Carrasco ran the show on the LW. The Atletico Madrid winger completed 5 dribbles and was instrumental on the wing completely justifying his selection over Eden Hazard.
Man of the match:
Romelu Lukaku-
The Inter Milan striker came into the tournament as a favourite to win the group. Lukaku scored 30 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions last season and he couldn't have asked for a better start to the Euros with 2 goals. Lukaku played a pure no. 9 role just like he always does for Belgium holding the ball, pouncing on half chances and pressing with intensity.
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