By defeating Belgium by a score of 1-0 in Frankfurt, Slovakia has achieved the most unexpected result of the Euro 2024 tournament thus far.
Ivan Schranz scored the game’s lone goal in the seventh minute, deftly scoring a volley from a sharp angle to give one of the tournament’s underdogs a surprise lead. This goal was the only one of the game.
However, it was two interventions from the video assistant referee that prevented Domenico Tedesco from extending his unbeaten record as head coach to 15 games. Belgium missed multiple opportunities to equalize the game during the match and Slovakia prevailed.
First, a goal scored by Romelu Lukaku was rejected due to a little offside ruling, and then, with four minutes remaining, a second goal was disallowed when the ball accidentally flicked the fingertips of Lois Openda during the buildup.
Because of this, Slovakia is now in the same position as Romania, which surpassed Ukraine earlier in the day to take the top spot in Group E. Belgium is now in a position where they will have to battle hard in order to go to the round of 16.
Lukaku was prominently engaged in the early moments of the match. He was prevented from scoring an early goal by a superb block by Martin Dubrvaka. After that, the Chelsea forward broke through the offside trap, which caused Slovakia to scramble to keep the ball out of the net.
There was a sense of inevitability about an early goal for Belgium; instead, Slovakia took the lead after seven minutes with a volley that Schranz took with great skill.
A first-time shot from Juraj Kucka was deflected into the air by goalkeeper Koen Casteels, but the ball went right to Schranz, who deftly hit the far bottom corner from an awkward angle. This occurred after Jeremy Doku had given up possession of the ball.
After goalie Dubravka had inadvertently given the ball to a Belgium player 20 yards out, Schranz scored the first goal ever scored by Slovakia at a major event. However, Belgium continued to maintain a strong lead throughout the match. Leandro Trossard missed the target when he should have at least struck the aim.
However, Slovakia came quite near to increasing their advantage with six minutes left in the first half of the match. Lukas Haraslin received a cross from the right side of the field, and Casteels was able to deflect his well-struck volley away from the possibility of being a threat.
Slovakia were prepared to continue demonstrating desire going forward, even though they did not get near to a second. This was in contrast to the previous strategy, which was to begin the restart by defending their lead.
On the other hand, Belgium believed that they had equalized the score exactly 56 minutes into the match. Amadou Onana’s header at the back post looked ideal for Lukaku to slide home from virtually on the goalline, but the frontman was slightly offside. Lukaku scored the goal.
In order to prevent Trossard from scoring, Dubravka had to be vigilant, and shortly after that, Lukaku scored a goal that went into the side nett. Johan Bakayoko, who had just been substituted, then had a shot that was cleared off the line by David Hancko, who was then struck in the face as a result of his struggles.
In the final five minutes of the contest, it appeared that Tedesco’s team had found the equalizer that they most likely deserved. However, as the play was drawing to a close, Belgium’s threat became less sustained than it had been previously.
From fifteen yards out, Lukaku swept a magnificent first-time finish into the net, and there appeared to be little chance of it being disallowed. However, the video assistant referee (VAR) judged that the fingers of Openda had made touch with the ball during the buildup to the goal.
In the seventh minute of added time, Belgium made a concerted effort to advance, and Kevin De Bruyne’s low shot was easily taken by Dubravka. The Red Devils were becoming more and more desperate as the game progressed.
However, that turned out to be Belgium’s last chance to engage in an exciting match. The Red Devils are now in a position where they could be eliminated from a major event in the group stage for the second time in a row due to another loss.
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