Lukaku is still extremely unlucky because VAR... 'hates' him, luckily Belgium beat Romania beautifully thanks to De Bruyne

Before entering the match against Romania at 2am on June 23, Belgium is the only team at EURO 2024 that has not been able to score. Since Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine all have 3 points, if they do not win this match, Belgium is likely to be eliminated.

Coach Domenico Tedesco's players quickly relieved the pressure. In the second minute, Romelu Lukaku made his mark by creating a wall and then passing the ball conveniently for Youri Tielemans to shoot from outside the penalty area, opening the score for Belgium.

Belgium (red shirt) opened the scoring early.

Despite finishing in a flailing position, the former Leicester City star still created a shot with a speed of 114 km/h, giving goalkeeper Florin Nita no chance to touch the ball.

Tielemans' goal helped Belgium "take the lead off their feet" to play more freely and quickly. With the inspiration of Dodi Lukebakio and Jeremy Doku, Coach Tedesco's students controlled the game, continuously bombarding Romania's goal. In the 18th minute, Lukebakio had a very dangerous shot but goalkeeper Nita dived to save it. In the 31st minute, Nita dived to block Doku's shot to prevent Romania from conceding a second goal.

Surprisingly, in the game where Belgium attacked relentlessly, Lukaku was... lackluster. Apart from the situation of passing the ball to Tielemans right at the beginning of the match, Lukaku was slow to move, and was easily caught by the opponent when dribbling or breaking through. The Chelsea striker only shot once in the first half and had an extremely low passing accuracy rate (37.5%).

Lukaku is unlucky

On the other hand, Romania refused to accept defeat. Coach Edward Iordanescu's team also had some powerful counterattacks, notably a 3-on-2 counterattack at the beginning of the second half, but Valentin Mihaila's shot went over the bar.

In the 64th minute, Kevin de Bruyne made a precise pass for Lukaku to run down and face goalkeeper Nita. The Belgian striker put the ball into the net, but once again, Lukaku was... black. VAR determined that Lukaku was offside because he was... half a toe of a boot away from the Romanian defender.

This is the third time at EURO 2024 that Lukaku has had a goal disallowed. In the previous match against Slovakia, Lukaku also became the first player in history to have two goals disallowed by VAR in one match.

Immediately after Lukaku's unlucky moment, Belgium almost got punished. In the 68th minute, a momentary lapse in concentration from Belgium gave Dennis Man a chance to face goalkeeper Koen Casteels, but the Belgian goalkeeper made an excellent save with his foot.

Romania paid the price for squandering their chances in the 80th minute. Kevin de Bruyne took advantage of a momentary lapse in concentration in the Romanian defense to break free before beating goalkeeper Nita with a decisive shot. Despite having his shirt pulled by his opponent, De Bruyne still managed to score his first goal at EURO 2024, sealing a 2-0 victory for Belgium.

Captain De Bruyne shines

In the last 15 minutes of the match, the entire Belgian team passed the ball to Lukaku to help the striker overcome his bad luck at EURO 2024, but he still could not score.

By defeating Romania, Belgium made the Group E situation unpredictable when all four teams have 3 points after 2 matches. Romania still leads, followed by Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine. All four teams still have hope of reaching the round of 16 of EURO 2024.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lukaku-van-cuc-ky-den-vi-bi-var-ghet-may-bi-van-ha-dep-romania-nho-duyen-de-bruyne-185240623032815402.htm