De Bruyne ensures Belgium progress with win over Denmark
Belgium bounces back after listless first half to defeat Denmark 2-1 in a highly emotional match in Copenhagen—Belgium qualifies for the Round of 16.
In a game that was always going to be overshadowed by the high emotions of Christian Eriksen’s horribly scary collapse in the opening game on June 12 against Finland, in a match again held in Copenhagen on June 17, Denmark scored within the first two minutes.
After a turnover deep in the Belgium half and Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig in Germany) took advantage and scored with a grass cutter into the lower left hand side of the opposition’s net.
read also:EURO 2020: All You Need To Know About This Week’s Matches On DStv And GOtv
In the first half, Denmark pressed Belgium across the pitch and had 9 shots to only 1 for Belgium (3 to 1 for shots on frame).
The game was halted in the tenth minute for a minute of tribute to Denmark with the 23,395 fans (two-thirds capacity and up from one-third in the first match) applauding the recuperating Eriksen (who wears the #10 jersey) in a nearby hospital.
Ten minutes into the second half, Belgium evened the score with Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund of Germany) finishing excellent build-up work by attackers Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan of Italy) and substitute Kevin DeBruyne (Manchester City in England).
DeBruyne scored his nation’s second goal in the 70th minute from just outside of the penalty area with an assist from fellow second-half substitute Eden Hazard (Real Madrid of Spain) after more sublime passing in attack.
Denmark forward Martin Braithwaite (Barcelona of Spain) had a tremendous strike that bounced off of the Belgium crossbar in the 87th minute. For the game, Denmark led in shots with 21 vs. 5 for Belgium (6 vs. 4 for shots on frame) while Belgium had the advantage in possession (54% vs. 46%).
The four Group B standings entering the final group stage matches on June 21 finds Belgium on 6 points, Finland and Russia on 3 points while Denmark is bottom on 0 points.
Denmark faces Russia—again at home—and Finland faces Belgium in St.Petersburg on Monday. Belgium qualified with their second consecutive EURO 2020 win. With three teams possibly advancing to the knock-out stage, there is still all to play for on match day three for Denmark, Finland and Russia.