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Two goals from Romelu Lukaku helped contenders Belgium cruise to a comfortable 3-0 win over Russia in their opening Euro 2020 game.
Belgium got off to a hot start after Russia failed to deal with a seemingly harmless cross. Lukaku, who would have been offside had Russia's Andrey Semenov not botched his clearance attempt, was left to stroke the ball home and get his nation off to a perfect start at Euro 2020.
While celebrating the goal, Lukaku delivered a heartfelt message to his Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen, who is currently recovering in hospital having collapsed during the Denmark vs Finland Euro 2020 match-up.
Belgium would lose first choice right wingback Timothy Castagne of Leicester City through injury in the 27th minute.
Castagne's replacement, Thomas Meunier, quickly made good of his opportunity, firing the ball home after Thorgan Hazard's cross was palmed away by Russia's goalkeeper Anton Shunin. This was the last real action of the first half as the Belgians headed down the tunnel 2-0 up at half-time.
Lukaku doubles his Euro 2020 tally in second half
The second half saw little change as the Russians continued to play the long ball and fire in crosses in the hope of finding their target man Artem Dzyuba but found minimal success.
As the game headed towards its conclusion, Lukaku added another goal to add an exclamation point to the victory. The Belgian raced past the Russian defense to latch on to a great pass by Thomas Meunier before firing home to seal the 3-0 victory.
Belgium will take on a Denmark side in need of a victory in their next Euro 2020 game whilst Russia will look to bounce back against Finland.
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