First Half

A high-flying Belgium took on Tunisia in their second game of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Both sides faced off at the Otkrytie Stadium on Saturday afternoon with the Red Devils looking the strongest side so far in the tournament.

After Romelu Lukaku scored a double in their first fixture, Belgium were looking for another comfortable win to top the table in Group G.

Roberto Martinez’s side were powering through the Tunisian defence with ease as the pace constricted their backline.

GOAL – Eden Hazard (PEN) – 6th Minute – Belgium 1-0

As Belgium pushed forward into the Tunisia box, Eden Hazard went down on the edge and the referee blew the whistle.

After a VAR appeal from the Africans, the officials stuck with their decision and the Chelsea man drove the ball into the left side of the net from the penalty spot.

Tunisia were in desperate need of a win as they’ve never gone through past the group stages in their five World Cup appearances.

GOAL – Romelu Lukaku – 16th Minute – Belgium 2-0 Tunisia

In the 10 minutes Belgium had after scoring the first goal, they had a handful of chances to convert against the visiting side.

Lukaku managed to get his third in the tournament in the 16th minute as he comfortably kicked the ball in from his left foot.

GOAL – Dylan Bronn – 17th Minute – Belgium 2-1 Tunisia

Surprisingly only less than a minute later, the Eagles of Carthage managed to get one back.

Gent defender Dylan Bronn converted a chance from a set piece as he got his head onto a ball whipped in by Wahbi Khazri.

The away fans went wild as there was still a chance for Tunisia to get back into the game.

However, Belgium still had control of the ball.

Lukaku had another chance on goal which was ruined by a bad first touch and the Red Devils had their first injury scare.

The Manchester United forward was seen laying on the ground in the sidelines but got up moments later to their Belgians’ relief.

GOAL – Romelu Lukaku – 45th + 3 Minutes – Belgium 3-1 Tunisia

A mistake by the Tunisian defence led Thomas Meunier feeding a ball to Lukaku who bagged his double for the game in extra time.

The first half ended 3-1 to the best side in the tournament.

Second Half

The eagles attempted to convert a chance in the opening of the second half but the Belgian responded with multiple attacks in the oppositions half.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne looked more active on the ball making runs up front despite being in a much more reserved position in the centre mid.

GOAL – Eden Hazard – 51st Minute – Belgium 4-1 Tunisia

Hazard managed to get his double as well as De Bruyne launched an amazing ball from 50-yard to connect with the Chelsea man.

After retaining the ball, Hazard flicked it beyond the keeper and defenders and strikes with his left foot.

It was obvious by this point that Belgium were not going to stop as Yanick Carrasco came close to converting a curler.

Both goal scorers were subbed off in the latter stages of the game for Michy Batshuayi and Marouane Fellaini.

Though the game seemed to calm down a bit, Belgium were still getting solid chances that Batshuayi couldn’t convert.

GOAL – Michy Batshuayi – 90th Minute – Belgium 5-1 Tunisia

After constantly trying to find a goal, the substitute striker finally gets one only to extend his side’s lead.

GOAL – Wahbi Khazri – 90th + 2 Minutes – Belgium 5-2 Tunisia

Even though fixture was decided, Tunisia got another goal in the dying minutes as the match ended 5-2.

 

Source of Image: @FIFAWorldCup (Twitter)

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply