Off the wire
Belgium beat Republic of Ireland 3-0 in EURO 2016 Group E  • Somali court sentences 43 Al-Shabaab militants to death  • Interview: Enhanced EU-China cooperation on product safety benefits both sides: EU Commissioner  • Starting line-up of Hungary against Iceland in EURO 2016 Group F  • Xi urges Chinese, Serbian legislatures to increase exchanges  • U.S. stocks suffer big weekly losses amid global uncertainties  • Urgent: Floods, Landslides in western Indonesia leave 3 dead, 4 missing  • Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, June 18  • Starting lineup of Iceland against Hungary in Euro 2016 Group F  • Huge arms cache recovered in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka  
You are here:   Home

Belgium beats Republic of Ireland 3-0 in EURO 2016 Group E (updated)

Xinhua, June 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Everton forward Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Belgium eased past Republic of Ireland 3-0 in a Euro 2016 Group E match here on Saturday.

The World No. 2 team showed their muscle in the second half. Twenty-three-year-old Lukaku broke the deadlock following a counterattack in the 47th minute. He placed a precise low drive into the bottom-left corner.

After 14 minutes, Zenit midfielder Axel Witsel jumped above Ireland midfielder James McCarthy to head the ball home, and Lukaku struck his second goal from Eden Hazard's pass in the 69th minute to seal the win for Belgium.

"We were good in attack and defence and it was a convincing result," said Lukaku.

"The game against Italy was difficult, but today we were ready and played well all across the pitch. It was all positive."

Belgium, who went down 2-0 to Italy on Tuesday, need at least a draw against Sweden in their last group game to advance to the knockout stage.

Ireland tied 1-1 with Sweden on Tuesday, and they will have to beat Italy in the last group match to keep alive their hopes of progressing. Endit