Euro 2024: Romania lashes Ukraine, as Belgium suffers shock defeat to Slovakia in Group E upset
Two upsets happened in both Group E games as Romania put three of the best past a surprised Ukraine hours before Belgium left the match against Slovakia with zero points.
Ukraine had key players like Artem Dovbyk, Viktor Tsygankov, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Mykhaylo Mudryk, yet Serhiy Rebrov’s men were no match for Romania as Edward Iordanescu’s men ran them ragged, putting three past them and climbing straight to the top of the table.
Nicolae Stanciu opened the scoring in the 29th minute, putting his country ahead, but Razvan Marin doubled the lead in the 53rd minute, putting Romania fans on cloud nine.
Things got better – from a Romania perspective – four minutes later when Denis Dragus scored a third to dash any hopes of a Ukraine comeback.
In the other game, Romelu Lukaku was very much the culprit as Belgium created four big chances, but failed to convert a single one as Lukaku missed three of them. Substitute Johan Bakayoko missed the fourth.
Slovakia’s Ivan Schranz took the lead in the 7th minute, scoring the only goal of the game.
These results leave Romania in first place, Slovakia second, Belgium third, and Ukraine bottom.
