Belgium wrapped up prime spot in Group B with a 2-0 win over Finland of their closing group stage sport.
The primary half was one-way site visitors, with Finland evidently trying to keep within the sport for so long as attainable. Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku have been seeing loads of the ball, however couldn’t discover a method via.
Those self same two gamers mixed for the perfect likelihood of the opening 45. De Bruyne floated in an exquisite cross for Lukaku, however the Inter Milan ahead’s end was uncharacteristically poor, heading straight at Lukas Hradecky.
Hradecky needed to be at his finest shortly earlier than half time. Teenager Jeremy Doku drove into the field and struck a shot in the direction of the far nook, however the goalkeeper threw out a robust left arm to show it away.
The 2 sides went in on the break stage. Finland ended the half with out a single try, and had simply 38% possession. Nonetheless, the scoreline was passable.
The second half continued in the identical style, with Roberto Martinez’s aspect persevering with to press for an opener. They got here shut when Axel Witsel reduce for Eden Hazard, however he was denied by one other nice save by Hradecky.
Belgium appeared to lastly breach the Finnish defence within the sixty fifth minute when De Bruyne’s via ball was completed off by Lukaku, however VAR dominated the objective out as a result of the ahead was offside by the tip of his boot.
The Pink Devils did finally get their objective. Thomas Vermaelen’s header got here again off the publish and went in off the again of Hradecky. It was a merciless blow for the goalkeeper, who had been in good kind all evening.
Issues started to open up within the Finland backline, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than it was 2-0. De Bruyne and Lukaku mixed once more, with the latter turning previous Daniel O’Shaughnessy and firing into the underside nook through a small deflection. This was Lukaku’s third objective of the event, taking him joint prime of the objective charts with Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrik Schick, and Georginio Wijnaldum.
The victory sealed Belgium’s spot on the prime of the group. As for Finland, they end in third place following Denmark’s win towards Russia. It stays to be seen whether or not they have executed sufficient to qualify for the knockouts.
Finland
Lukas Hradecky (8/10) – Made quite a few glorious saves to maintain Belgium out. Extremely unfortunate with the personal objective.
Jukka Raitala (6/10) – Managed to maintain Hazard quiet, however acquired crushed by Vermaelen within the air for the opener.
Joona Tiovio (6/10) – Helped hold the rating down for many of the sport. Struggled after the primary objective.
Paulus Arajuuri (7/10) – Got here beneath wave after wave of Belgian assaults however repelled most of them.
Daniel O’Shaughnessy (6/10) – Allowed Lukaku to show previous him far too simply for his second objective. Strong in any other case.
Jere Uronen (7/10) – A part of a backline that held agency towards a world class assault. Substituted on 70 minutes.
Robin Lod (5/10) – Couldn’t hold the ball towards Belgium’s midfield, which did little to alleviate the strain.
Tim Sparv (6/10) – Helped defensively, however struggled to keep up any management in midfield. Substituted on 59 minutes.
Glen Kamara (5/10) – Very similar to Sparv and Lod, didn’t do sufficient to keep up possession.
Joel Pohjanpalo (5/10) – Hardly acquired a contact of the ball amid Belgium’s territorial dominance.
Teemu Pukki (5/10) – Labored onerous and infrequently acquired in some good positions, however clearly not at his sharpest.
Substitutes
Rasmus Schuller (5/10)
Nikolai Alho (5/10)
Joni Kauko (5/10)
Fredrik Jensen (NA/10)
Marcus Forss (NA/10)
Belgium
Thibaut Courtois (6/10) – Not compelled into any saves of word.
Dedryck Boyata (6/10) – Had a reasonably comfy evening. Not given a lot of a problem by Pukki and Pohjanpalo.
Jason Denayer (6/10) – Additionally left with little or no to do all sport. Handled any menace.
Thomas Vermaelen (7/10) – Didn’t have an entire lot to do on the again. Terrific header within the lead as much as the opening objective.
Leandro Trossard (7/10) – Energetic down the appropriate and offered loads of menace in an unfamiliar position.
Kevin De Bruyne (8/10) *MOTM* – All the time seemed just like the one more than likely to unpick the lock. Acquired himself an help and unfortunate to not have one or two extra.
Axel Witsel (7/10) – Good on the ball and fast to win it again. Very important to serving to his aspect dominate possession.
Nacer Chadli (6/10) – Confirmed loads of attacking intent, however a few of his crosses have been poor.
Jeremy Doku (7/10) – Appeared very brilliant on the wings. Unfortunate to be denied by a superb save.
Romelu Lukaku (8/10) – Up towards a Finland defence intent on sitting again, he made it as tough as he might for them. Had a objective harshly dominated out for a marginal offside, however finally acquired his reward.
Eden Hazard (5/10) – Had one shot very properly saved, however was in any other case pretty quiet. Clearly a good distance from his finest.
Substitutes
Thomas Meunier (6/10)
Michy Batshuayi (6/10)
Christian Benteke (NA/10)
Hans Vanaken (NA/10)