Belgium 2-0 Romania: Tielemans and De Bruyne get Red Devils up and running
Article summary

Goals in each half from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne mean it is all to play for going into the final fixtures in UEFA EURO 2024 Group E.

Kevin De Bruyne crowned an influential all-round performance with Belgium’s second goal in Cologne

All four teams in Group E sit on three points after Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne helped Belgium get the better of Romania in Cologne.

2′: Tielemans drives in from Lukaku lay-off
5′: Drăgușin header tipped over by Casteels
14′: Lukaku turn and shot deflected wide
18′: Niță denies Lukébakio at full stretch
31′: Doku tests Niță’s reflexes
48′: Mihăilă breaks clear but fires over
52′: De Bruyne’s bending effort whistles past post
68′: Casteels spreads himself to deny Man
80′: De Bruyne darts in to seal points

Match in brief: Belgium pass Romania test
Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne was a constant thorn in Romania’s side
If the story of their opening loss against Slovakia was one of missed chances, Belgium went about changing that narrative in emphatic fashion by scoring within two minutes in Cologne. In a frenetic start, the ball broke for Romelu Lukaku and when he received it back from Jérémy Doku, he teed up Tielemans to rifle low and hard past Florin Niță – at 73 seconds, the third fastest goal in EURO history.

Romania responded straight away, Radu Drăgușin climbing highest to force a fine save from Koen Casteels. Doku and Lukaku continued to combine as the latter turned but saw his shot deflected wide. A typically driving run from De Bruyne then gave Dodi Lukébakio the chance to test Niță, the keeper saving at full stretch before batting away another Doku shot.

Edward Iordănescu’s men remained undeterred. They finished the half well, were on the front foot after the break and nearly gained their reward when Valentin Mihăilă burst clear, only to fire over. De Bruyne went close twice and was becoming ever more influential, combining with Lukaku regularly. Casteels came to Belgium’s rescue as he denied Dennis Man when the winger got in behind.

It proved to be a huge save and the keeper then turned provider by clearing long, with De Bruyne anticipating a slight flick-on and stretching out to guide in the second. Romania continued to push but Belgium saw out the final moments to get their campaign up and running.

Belgium 2-0 Romania: as it happened, reaction
Vivo Player of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Belgium vs Romania Player of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne
“He made the difference. Once again the key player.”
UEFA Technical Observer panel

David D’Hondt, Belgium reporter
This might just be the best 2-0 I have seen in years. It was a cracking fixture, especially the second half when Romania were compelled to attack more. Belgium put in the best performance I can recall from them for a very long time and they were deserved winners.

Cristina Tache, Romania reporter
This was one of Romania’s toughest matches. They expected to come up against a hungry Belgium team and ultimately found that to be the case. Romania rallied in the second half after the early opener but came up short against one of the most powerful teams in Europe, although their new generation stood up well against their opponents.

Youri Tielemans made no mistake with Belgium’s first chance of the game

Domenico Tedesco, Belgium coach: “I’m very relieved that we won the game, it was very important to get those three points. Of course, we missed some chances. It would have been great if we could have tied up the game earlier on. I think it was possible to score three, four or five goals tonight. It’s great that we’re creating these kinds of chances and we need to stay patient.”

Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium captain and Vivo Player of the Match: “After the first game, I wasn’t concerned. I don’t think we played badly per se. Obviously we made some mistakes but we created chances, even if we couldn’t find the back of the net. We played well during the game [tonight] and I think we deserved the win, so I’m happy. What’s important is that we’re creating chances and those situations.”

Edward Iordănescu, Romania coach: “They’re a team with lots of quality, they have speed, they have explosiveness, power. They are a complete team. They are candidates to win the title. We never gave up, we fought very hard. In the second half, we were better. With a bit of luck we could have got a point. We had chances to equalise. I want to congratulate my players for their efforts. I also want to thank the fans that were here in such large numbers.”

Radu Drăguşin, Romania defender: “It was a difficult match for us tonight. We faced a top team, top players. We had our chance, we had a good second half, but I don’t know what was missing for us. We will demonstrate in the match against Slovakia that we deserve to qualify from the group stage. I strongly believe in our chances. We will focus on our target, we can still achieve what we want.”

Koen Casteels’ save from Dennis Man proved to be a massive moment in the game with Belgium scoring their second not long after

This was Belgium and Romania’s first meeting at a major international final tournament.
Belgium have now won five of their last six EURO group matches.
The 1-0 loss against Slovakia on Matchday 1 is Belgium’s only defeat in their last 17 matches
Belgium have drawn only two of their last 24 EURO matches and none of the last 19.
Romania missed the chance to win successive EURO matches for the first time.
Line-ups
Belgium: Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Vertonghen, Theate (Debast 77); Tielemans (Mangala 72), Onana; Lukébakio (Trossard 56), De Bruyne, Doku (Carrasco 72); Lukaku

Romania: Niță; Rațiu (Sorescu 90), Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu; M Marin (Olaru 68); Man, R Marin, Stanciu, Mihăilă (Hagi 68);