Belgium vs Slovakia LIVE: Euro 2024 result and reaction after VAR rule out two Romelu Lukaku equalisers
Belgium 0-1 Slovakia: Lukaku thought he had rescued a point with a 86th minute equaliser but VAR ruled the goal out due to handball as Slovakia held on to claim the shock of the tournament so far
Slovakia delivered the first major shock result of Euro 2024, snatching an early goal and defending furiously to hold on for a 1-0 victory over Belgium in Group E.
Ivan Schranz took advantage of a horror defensive error to put Slovakia ahead in the seventh minute and kept Belgium at bay with increasing desperation to secure an unexpected triumph at the Frankfurt Arena.
Belgium’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku twice had the ball in the net but was denied after VAR checks, first for offside in the 56th minute and minutes from the end when Lois Openda was adjudged to have handled in the build-up before the striker swept the ball into the net.
Slovakia joined Romania at the top of the group standings after their 3-0 win over Ukraine on Monday. Follow all the latest reaction below before the evening match between Austria and France:
Romania 1-0 Ukraine
52 mins: Ukraine are hungry for this equaliser. Mudryk weaves into the box from the left this time before driving a low shot towards goal only to see the effort blocked.
Romania 1-0 Ukraine
51 mins: Sudakov looks to make something happen for Ukraine. He receives the ball on the left side of the pitch and skips a tackle before taking a shot.
It’s not a good one and the ball sails high and wide.
Romania 1-0 Ukraine
48 mins: Konoplia looks for Dovbyk who makes a run into the penalty area. The cross is slightly behind the forward who looked to by offside in any case.
Ukraine need to start the second half well. They faded away after the goal and need to reignite the energy they started the game with.
Second half! Romania 1-0 Ukraine
No changes to the teams at the break as Romania get the ball rolling once again. Can they hold onto their lead and see out this game?
HT Romania 1-0 Ukraine
Artem Dovbyk scored more goals than any other player in LaLiga this season (24), with the Ukrainian averaging 2.9 shots and 1.6 shots on target per 90 this term.
HT Romania 1-0 Ukraine
Take a look at this scorcher from Nicolae Stanciu which opened the scoring in the first half:
Half-time! Romania 1-0 Ukraine
45+2 mins: That’s perfect 45 minutes from Romania. They will have hoped to start the tournament well and with their set up they’ll have known that chances would be rare.
Nicolae Stanciu’s opener was a great strike from the edge of the box and could turn out to be decisive in this match. All to play for though in the second half.
Romania 1-0 Ukraine
44 mins: Dragus and Coman combine on the left for Romania before the forward looks to dart inside. Konoplia times his tackle expertly to recover the ball and feeds it back into Ukraine’s midfield.
Romania 1-0 Ukraine
41 mins: Ukraine move the ball quickly and almost catch Romania out of position. Sudakov feeds the ball over to Mudryk who laces a dainty pass into the box for Dovbyk.
Burca sticks with the forward and takes the ball off him as it gets rolled into the penalty area. Romania then take over possession.
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