Lukaku fires for Belgium

St. Petersburg: Romelu Lukaku delivered a heartfelt message to Denmark player Christian Eriksen after scoring the first of his two goals in Belgium’s 3-0 win over Russia on Saturday. After swivelling to shoot into the bottom corner in the 10th minute, Lukaku headed to a television camera and grabbed it with both hands, saying, “Chris, Chris, I love you.” Lukaku plays for Italian team Inter Milan alongside Eriksen.

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Substitute Thomas Meunier added a second goal in the 34th minute and Lukaku made it 3-0 in the 88th for top-ranked Belgium, who validated their status as one of the favorites at Euro 2020 with a comfortable win in front of a heavily pro-Russian crowd of 26,264 spectators. Before the game, there were loud jeers around the stadium after Belgium’s players took a knee before kickoff. Loud music was played while the gesture against racism was taking place but the boos were still audible.

Belgium’s victory was all the more impressive given the team was without playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who wasn’t deemed ready after a minor operation on a fractured nose and eye socket, and with captain Eden Hazard only playing the final 19 minutes as a substitute. AP/pti