Finland 0-2 Belgium: Red Devils On Their Way

Finland played Belgium in their final game of the UEFA Euro 2020 group stages.

Finland knew a point would have been enough to take them into the last 16 while Belgium, who are one of the favourites to win the tournament, already qualified.

In the 22^nd minute, Kevin De Bruyne bypassed the Finnish defence with beautiful dribbling but his low cross into the box hit off Paulus Arajuuri and Lukáš Hrádecký.

The Belgians had another chance. This time, de Bruyne crossed from the middle of the park towards Romelu Lukaku’s head but his header went comfortably into the goalkeeper’s hands in the 37^th minute.

With players coming back into full match fitness and some others being rested, Belgium seemed lethargic in their attack while a couple of shots by Alex Witsel, Jérémy Doku, and Leandro Trossard from outside the box went nowhere near the net.

Glen Kamara had a chance to give Finland the lead in the 61^st minute but his shot lacked the power to trouble the Belgian goalkeeper.

Belgium believed they finally broke the deadlock in the 65^th minute but it was ruled offside by millimeters.

Belgium earned their lead in a cruel way when Lukáš Hrádecký, who made incredible saves throughout the night, scored an unfortunate own goal in the 74^th minute. From a corner, Kevin de Bruyne found Thomas Vermaelen, but his header hit the post and then off the Finnish goalkeeper into the net.

Belgium eliminated any chance of Finland from getting back into the game in the 81^st minute with a Lukaku goal. Similar to the goal that was disallowed earlier due to offside, Kevin de Bruyne passed the ball into a crowded box to Lukaku who controlled the ball and made a turn to score his 3^rd goal of the tournament.

The game ended 2-0 to Belgium with Finland finishing 3^rd on the table with a really slim possibility of qualifying depending on the rest of the games left in the group stages.

Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 Twitter