Slovakia fuels the doubts of poor Belgium
The work and faith of the Slovaks win by the minimum (0-1) against a flat and lacking Belgian team that had two goals disallowed
MADRID, 17 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Slovakia beat Belgium (0-1) this Monday in the Euro Cup that is being played in Germany, thanks to an early goal from Ivan Schranz and a hard-fought match against a Belgian team without ideas and flat that disappointed in its debut in the tournament, although They were able to tie on two occasions, but Romelu Lukaku’s two goals were disallowed for offside and handball, respectively.
Domenico Tedesco’s team showed its grayest version in its EURO debut, without rhythm or fang, at the same time, which did not make use of its most powerful squad against the theoretically inferior Slovakia. Francesco Calzona’s men found themselves with a goal in the 7th minute, after a play full of Belgian errors, to take the lead, a result that they defended until the end with great skill to offer the first surprise of the tournament.
The ‘Red Devils’, although far from their best level, were able to tie on two occasions with Lukaku’s boots, but the referee annulled their two goals due to offside and handball. The defeat leaves the Belgians with zero points, like Ukraine, in Group E, forced to react in the following rounds. While Slovakia takes a big step to be in the round of 16.
The match began following the planned script, with Belgium dominating and enjoying clear chances in the first minutes. The first two had Doku as a common denominator, the protagonist of paths started from the right, but his deliveries were not taken advantage of by Lukaku, who was thwarted by a successful Dúbravka under the sticks.
But the score was unbalanced in favor of the team led by Francesco Calzona, after a play full of Belgian misfortunes. Full-back Castagne put Doku in trouble with a throw-in in his own area.
The winger got tangled up trying to dribble and dropped a meaningless ball that a clever Schranz picked up to give it to Kucka first with a backheel. His shot was rejected by Casteels, but the ball reached the former again, who did not miss when it had not even reached the 10th minute.
The advantage gave more confidence to the Slovaks, without deviating from their plan, while Tedesco’s men continued to show doubts when releasing the ball. Although it was in the area defended by Dúbravka where the next error came, in which, in a play similar to 0-1, a selfish Trossard was able to tie, missing his shot over the crossbar, when Doku was waiting to his right with the goalkeeper far from his goal.
The Manchester City winger seemed the only light in a team with many shadows in the first half hour of play, with only one shot on goal until then. Serbia seemed comfortable, although Belgium, with some flash, gave the ‘Falcons’ a couple of scares with the best version of De Bruyne and a shot from Onana in a corner.
However, Belgium paid for their lack of clarity and lack of forcefulness with another great chance against them, in the boots of Haraslin, who finished off with a very powerful volley, demanding the most from Casteels and increasing the buzz on the Belgian bench. This was relaxed with a good response from Lukaku when he received a precise delivery from Carrasco, but the striker did not do well with the ball, sending a clear one-on-one into limbo.
The doubts in Belgium continued after the break, against the comfort of Slovakia, creating approaches with relative ease. They were not so accurate in defending a corner against them, when the 1-1 momentarily came from Lukaku, who pushed the ball almost on the goal line after a shot by Onana in a second play when taking a corner. But the striker was offside, although it was the stimulus they needed to press the accelerator.
From then on, the Belgian hurricane was unleashed, with Bakayoko already on the field, who had the clearest shot in a shot that took out the Slovak defense under the sticks, and De Bruyne in the engine room. The arrivals of Tedesco’s men multiplied, ready to heat up the game against some nervous Slovaks and only bailing out water.
Calzona’s men extinguished the momentum of the Belgian team, which lost the little fang it showed in the middle of the second half, not even with the changes introduced by Tedesco. However, they enjoyed the typical final push, also caused by the Slovaks’ fatigue, even tying again with a goal from Lukaku.
But the referee, who went to see the VAR screen, annulled the goal due to a handball in Openda’s run to the left, before assisting the striker. Thus ended a poor match for the Belgians, who will have the option of joining the tournament against Romania.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: BELGIUM, 0 – SLOVAKIA, 1 (0-1, at halftime).
–ALIGNMENTS:
BELGIUM: Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Debast, Carrasco (Openda, min.84); De Bruyne, Mangala (Bakayoko, min.58), Onana, Doku (Lukebakio, min.84); Trossard (Tielemans, min.74) and Lukaku.
ESLOVAQUIA: Dubravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda (Obert, min.90+4); Schranz (Duris, min.81), Bozenik (Strelec, min.70) and Haraslín (Suslov, min.70).
–GOALS:
0-1, min.7: Schranz.
–REFEREE: Umut Meler (TUR). He cautioned Mangala (min.29) for Belgium, and Schranz (min.41) for Slovakia.
–STADIUM: Deutsche Bank Park (Frankfurt).