Tielemans and De Bruyne help Belgium to victory over Romania

Belgium asserted their credentials at Euro 2024 with a 2-0 victory over Romania in an open match in Cologne.

Kevin De Bruyne sealed the match for The Red Devils with a poached goal 10 minutes from time, in a match in which Belgium missed a host of chances.

For the third time in the tournament Romelu Lukaku had a goal disallowed, and he and his team-mates saw several other chances saved by Florin Nita. De Bruyne and substitute Leandro Trossard were also wasteful in playing passes to open players.

Dennis Man had Romania’s best chance in the second half, which was smothered by Koen Casteels.

It was Tielemans that gave Belgium the lead after just 75 seconds, when he walked onto a lay-off by Lukaku to crash a low drive past Nita.

The goal was the third quickest in the history of the European Championship.

The result means that all four teams in Group E now have three points, with the remaining fixtures to be played on Wednesday.

For such a venerated group of players, Belgium’s record at international tournaments in the last decade has been poor. One third-placed finish at the World Cup is all they have to show for all the hype.

After the shock of a defeat to Slovakia in their opening match, it looked like they might meekly depart the international stage at an early juncture once more. In Cologne they fired back with a vibrant performance in one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament.

It is a foothold at Euro 2024 for them, and perhaps a base camp for one final yahoo at a major trophy for their thirtysomething stars. Jan Vertonghen slotted into defence effortlessly, while De Bruyne turned in the kind of performance we see on a regular basis for Manchester City. And if their record scorer Romelu Lukaku can stay just the right side of the offside line and turn his personal fortunes around, they can still be a handful.

His goal – a toe-poked, first-time finish after a flick on from a long ball – induced a double take, but nothing else about his game did. He ran the Belgian midfield and the tempo of the game all night, and his goal capped a fine performance.

Belgium: Casteels 7; Castagne 7, Vertonghen 7, Faes 6, Theate 6; Onana 6, Tielemans 7, De Bruyne 8; Lukebakio 7, Lukaku 7, Doku 7

SUBS: Trossard 5, Carrasco 7, Mangala 6, Debast 6

Romania: Nita 7; Ratiu 5, Dragusin 6, Burca 7, Bancu 6; Marius Marin 6, Razvan Marin 6, Stanciu 5; Man 7, Dragus 5, Mihaila 7

SUBS: Hagi 7, Olaru 6, Alivec 6, Sorescu 6

Matchcast: Full match stats and commentary (hyperlink)

2′ GOAL! BELGIUM 1 (TIELEMANS 2) ROMANIA 0 What a start – after just 75 seconds, Belgium lead! They come flying out of the traps and win the ball high, with Doku finding Lukaku to feet in the area. Lukaku touches it off to Tielemans on the edge, who crashes a low drive past Nita. That’s a beauty of a goal.

58′ CHANCE! Oh my. Belgium win it high again, and Lukaku feeds De Bruyne in acres on the left. Doku is free at the back post and it looks a simple ball, but De Bruyne puts just too much on it and it slides past Doku. Will Belgium regret that?

63′ DISALLOWED GOAL! Oh my days. Belgium win the ball in the centre circle, and De Bruyne splits the defence with a gorgeous pass to put Lukaku clean through. Lukaku tucks the ball past Nita and into the bottom corner, but hang on…it’s chalked for offside! That looked so tight, and it’s now a hat trick of disallowed goals for Lukaku at Euro 2024.

68′ HUGE CHANCE! Man is clean through for Romania! He squares up Casteels, one on one…and he’s put it straight into the goalkeeper’s belly! That’s a huge miss.

80′ GOAL! BELGIUM 2 (DE BRUYNE 80) ROMANIA 0 Game done, surely. Lukaku flicks on a long clearance from Casteels, and it runs through to De Bruyne in the area. De Bruyne toe pokes it past Casteels as the two fly towards each other, and after a VAR check for offside it stands!