Euro 2024 – Belgium 0-1 Slovakia: Romelu Lukaku twice denied by VAR as Red Devils suffer shock defeat in Group E opener | Football news

Highly-fancied Belgium had a disappointing start to their Euro 2024 campaign after losing 1-0 to lower-ranked Slovakia in their opening Group E match.

Ivan Schranz was the Slovak hero, capitalizing on a mistake from Jeremy Doku and recovering the deflection of Juraj Kucka’s strike, before expertly guiding the ball into the far corner from a tight angle – a move which survived an in-depth look at VAR.

Romelu Lukaku was not so lucky. Belgium’s top scorer put the ball in the back of the net twice in the second half and VAR intervened twice to score goals.

The number 9, trying to make up for a pointless first half, was ruled offside when he pushed away Amadou Onana’s cross in the 56th minute, before completing a smart move to plant Lois Openda’s cross in front of Martin Dubravka in the last minute of the 90th. .

At first glance there appeared to be very little wrong with the latter, but VAR quickly spotted the ball inadvertently looking at Openda’s hand during the build-up, and recommended referee Halil Umut Meler throw it in a second look. He did so and duly accepted the video manager’s advice, controversially denying Lukaku once again.

Domenico Tedesco’s team, flat and frustrating for the most part, still created four “big chances” (the biggest in a Euro match since 1980 against Spain), but did not succeed to break the stubbornness of Slovakia, who are now at the top of Group E alongside Romania.

Analysis: Will Belgium ever live up to the hype?

Laura Hunter from Sky Sport:

Maybe Belgium is cursed. Maybe bad luck. Or maybe this “golden generation” just isn’t as good as the hype – or the rankings – suggest. Whatever the problem, they don’t seem to perform as expected on the big stage.

Lukaku was useless, Kevin de Bruyne discolored, Leandro Trossard ineffective. In fact, all over the pitch, Domenico Tedesco’s side were disappointing, despite four “big chances” and an xG of 1.91.

Match after match, the brilliance erases what remains of Belgium’s reputation as one of the best teams in Europe. This is a team of individuals, far from a complete unit of tournament winners.

And yet there was something unfair about their defeat in the first game. Despite all the obvious shortcomings, Lukaku managed to put the ball in the back of the net twice. The first was ruled offside and so there is little argument to be made.

The second decision, however, was far more shocking. This is the type of refereeing that has sparked suspicion and skeptics in the Premier League this season, seen by many as “re-arbitration” – there is justification for both sides.

Lois Openda handled the ball well, but does that mean it’s handball? The rule is subjective, of course, but many believe this sort of VAR intervention is a stain on the game. The jury is out.

Either way, Belgium must improve if they want to avoid a repeat of Euro 2022, exiting in the group stage of the competition.

Statistics: Match story

Opta: Belgium’s failures punished

• Belgium suffered their first group stage defeat at the European Championship since losing 2-0 to Italy in 2016 – they had won five in a row in the group stage before today’s defeat.
• Slovakia have won each of their last four competitive international matches, their best run of competitive match wins since a run of five between 2016 and 2017.
• Ivan Schranz’s seventh-minute goal was the fastest goal Slovakia has scored at a major tournament and his fourth goal in 23 caps for his national team.
• Belgium missed four big chances defined by Opta in this match, the first time they had done so in a European Championship match since 1980 against Spain (also missed four).

So far in group E…