Belgium and Slovakia faced each other this Monday at the Frankfurt Arena, in Germany, in the first round of Group E of the European Championship. The Belgians were defeated by the Slovaks 1-0 thanks to Schranz’s goal.
What a win for Slovakia! 🇸🇰👏#EURO2024 | #BELSVK pic.twitter.com/Ap1uK9xQKR
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 17, 2024
With the victory, Slovakia was in second place in Group C with three points, tied with Romania, which is in the lead due to its superior goal difference. Belgium appears in third place, without any points won.
Belgium’s next game is against Romania, next Saturday, at 4pm (Brasília time), at the Cologne stadium. Slovakia returns to the field against Ukraine, on Friday, at 1 pm, in Dusseldorf, in the same bracket as the European Championship.
First time
The first half was marked by a good performance from Slovakia, who opened the scoring after nine minutes of the match. Doku made a mistake with the ball, Bozenik took advantage and shot over the Casteels goalkeeper. With the rebound, Schranz opened the scoring for the Slovaks.
Slovakia did not hold back after the goal and continued to put pressure on Belgium. In the 35th minute, Haraslin received a beautiful cross and shot hard at first, for a great save by goalkeeper Casteels.
Belgium’s best opportunity in the first half came just after 41 minutes. Lukaku received the ball deep and shot out face to face with goalkeeper Dubravka.
Second time
Needing to tie the duel to get back into the match, Belgium launched an attack. In the 10th minute, a goal by Lukaku was disallowed. After a rehearsed play in the corner kick, Onana scored and the attacker completed it into the net from an offside position.
The Belgian pressure continued and in the 17th minute they had the clearest chance of the entire game. After Doku’s play, Bakayoko was in front of the goal and hit low. Hancko took it over the line.
In the 41st minute, Belgium finally equalized, but the goal was disallowed once again. Openda made a great move on the left and passed it in the middle of the area to Lukaku, who scored the goal. At the beginning of the play, Openda touched the ball with his hand.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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