Tielemans and De Bruyne score decisive victory at Euro 2024

Youri Tielemans gave Belgium a leg up on their journey to Euro 2024 when the Aston Villa midfielder inspired a decisive 2-0 win over Romania on Saturday with a goal after just 73 seconds.

If Domenico Tedesco’s team had suffered a second consecutive defeat in Group E after the disappointment against Slovakia in the opening match, they would already have been eliminated.

But Tielemans’ second-minute strike in Cologne dispelled fears that the star-studded Belgian team would suffer another major tournament flop. What followed was a much improved performance against a dangerous Romanian side.

The consistently impressive Kevin De Bruyne secured the points in the final phase, so that all four teams in the group have three points.

The stage is set for a dramatic final round of matches in the battle to reach the round of 16. On 26 June, Belgium will face Ukraine and Romania will face Slovakia.

With the two nations separated by 45 places in the FIFA rankings, third-placed Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to Slovakia on Monday was the biggest upset in European Championship history.

Romania (47th place) fought bravely and chased its own surprise, but this time Belgium’s extra class proved decisive.

After being eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and losing in the quarter-finals at the last two European Championships, Belgium is now gaining new hope that it will finally be able to reach its great potential.

Romania recorded an impressive 3-0 win against Ukraine on Monday – their first victory at a major tournament since beating England at Euro 2000.

Despite this defeat, Edward Iordanescu’s team can still fight to reach the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time in 24 years.

Belgium had not scored a goal in over 300 minutes at major tournaments since their goal against Canada at the last World Cup.

It took them less than two minutes to end that drought, with a spectacular move ending with Jeremy Doku’s pass finding Romelu Lukaku in the Romanian penalty area, who laid the ball back to Tielemans, who hammered a low shot past Florin Nita from the edge of the box.

Romanian Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin almost equalised shortly afterwards with a powerful header that Koen Casteels deflected over the bar at full speed.

After an injury-plagued season at Manchester City in which he was unable to reach his usual high level, De Bruyne did not look at his best against Slovakia.

The Belgian national team captain was far more influential this time, producing a stunning foray that ended with a pass to Dodi Lukebakio, whose shot was saved by Nita.

Doku was thwarted by another fine save from Nita after he had weaved his way through the overburdened Romanian defence.

Valentin Mihaila missed a golden chance to equalise shortly after half-time when he picked up a bad pass from Amadou Onana, ran and shot the ball high into the stands.

De Bruyne threateningly switched up a gear, curled the ball from 18 meters just past the far post and then forced Nita to make a brilliant save with a shot from the turn.

Lukaku scored two goals, including a late equaliser that was disallowed by the video referee against Slovakia.

In the 63rd minute, the striker was again foiled by VAR when he converted a pass from De Bruyne before being narrowly offside.

Romania almost benefited from this escape as Dennis Man drew but lacked the precision to beat Casteels.

In the 80th minute, De Bruyne finally made the decisive strike when he collected Casteels’ long clearance and shot past Nita.

Updated: June 22, 2024, 9:27 p.m.