BELGIUM THRASH TUNISIA 52, CLOSE IN ON QUARTERFINALS
A 52 victory virtually seals berth in the knockout stages for Roberto Martinez’s side
MOSCOW: Two goals each for Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard helped Belgium to a 5-2 thrashing of Tunisia on Saturday that showcased their attacking verve and star quality and put them firmly on course for the World Cup knockout phase.
Michy Batshuayi came off the bench to add a late fifth but it was by no means all plain sailing for Roberto Martinez’s side and they will be aware that they will need to tighten up at the back considerably if they are to finally make a push to a major tournament summit after so many false dawns.
“It’s not easy to score that amount of goals in two games,” said Martinez, as his team impressively followed up their 3-0 opening win over Panama and helped Russia 2018 set a World Cup record for 27 tournament games without a goalless draw. Mexico extended the record to 28.
“We had to suffer in spells but when we were in full flow going forward, we look really sharp. Since we came together it’s been a joy to see a group of players working so hard.”
LUKAKU MAY BE RESTED
Martinez said Lukaku and Hazard, who were withdrawn in the second half, and midfielder Dries Mertens, had slight injuries and could be among a series of changes for the England game.
In Saturday’s clash, Belgium were much the better team from the start but they were seriously aided by some ragged defending and non-existing marking from their opponents, epitomised after six minutes when Syam Ben Youssef needlessly crashed into Hazard to concede a penalty, which the captain calmly converted. Mertens seized on another error to set up Lukaku to plant the second goal into the corner 10 minutes later.
Tunisia hit back with a Dylan Bronn header as Belgium’s shaky defending was exposed but another misplaced Tunisian pass enabled Thomas Meunier to feed Lukaku to make it 3-1.
Then, a perfect Kevin de Bruyne pass sent Hazard clear for his second six minutes after restart. Batshuayi scored the fifth in the 90th.