Euro 2020: Finland vs Belgium Match Recap
Belgium made it three wins out of three as they defeated Finland 2-0 in their final group game of Euro 2020.
Belgium were impressive at Euro 2020 going into the Finland match with wins over Russia and Denmark, and dominated play once again today. Kevin De Bruyne pulled the strings as usual for Belgium and saw two excellent crosses lead to nothing in a largely uneventful first half.
Jeremy Doku came closest in the first period. His right-footed shot from the left forced Lukas Hradecky into a good diving save to keep the scores level. The half would conclude with a penalty shout for Belgium when Eden Hazard felt he had been brought down by Daniel O'Shaughnessy but the referee waved the calls away.
Belgium rewarded for their dominance in the second half to finish Euro 2020 group stage with perfect record
Belgium continued to push in the second half and after Hazard's effort was well saved in the 64th minute, Lukaku thought he had scored in the 65th. De Bruyne found Lukaku behind the Finland defense who then powered the ball into the bottom right corner. However, after a VAR review the goal was disallowed as Lukaku was judged to have been ever-so-slightly offside.
In the 74th minute Belgium finally found their opener. Kevin De Bruyne's corner was met by the head of Thomas Vermalen before the ball bounced off the ground and then the post. The ball then ricocheted off the back of Hradecky's hand into the net behind in a piece of bad luck for the talented goalkeeper.
Lukaku would finally get his goal in the 81st minute after being picked out once again by De Bruyne. Lukaku turned and blasted the ball into the back of the net in expert fashion to secure the win for Belgium in the Euro 2020 encounter.
Having topped Euro 2020 Group B, Belgium will next take on one of the four best third-placed teams in the knockout stages. Finland do still have a shot at progressing as a third-placed team following Denmark's 4-1 win over Russia in the other Group B game.
However, with only three points after beating Denmark and losing to Russia in their previous Euro 2020 games, Finland will need a number of results elsewhere to go their way.