A little less than two hours after Christian Eriksen's discomfort during the match between Denmark and Finland, the meeting scheduled for Saturday June 12 in Saint Petersburg between Belgium and Russia in Group B finally took place.

In an atmosphere necessarily cooled by this incident, the Red Devils, who include striker Romelu Lukaku, Eriksen's teammate at Inter, won by a score of 3 to 0.

As contenders for the title, Belgium has kept its place.

The selection of Roberto Martinez was especially able to count on the weaknesses of the Russian defense to take the lead in the first period.

Romeo Lukaku opened the scoring in the 10th minute thanks to an Andrei Semionov error.

The defender misses his intervention in the box and puts back into play for his Belgian opponent.

The latter celebrates his goal by paying tribute to his teammate Christian Eriksen.

"Chris, Chris, I love you," he says, walking towards a camera.

RESPECT 👏Romelu Lukaku Sending his support to Eriksen on camera after his goal against Russia: "CHRIS, CHRIS… I LOVE YOU" 🙏🏻❤️ pic.twitter.com/iFxc69Zi7L

- FOOTBALL-TIME⭐ (@Footballtime___) June 12, 2021

Entering the field a few minutes earlier and forgotten in the area, Thomas Meunier then worsened the score in the 34th minute on a cross delivered by Thorgan Hazard and pushed back by Russian goalkeeper Anton Shunin. 

Upon returning from the locker room, the Russians displayed better ambitions, but without managing to create real opportunities.

The meeting then takes place at a false pace, neither of the two teams being able to be really dangerous.

Taking advantage of a moment of hesitation, Romeo Lukaku finally offered himself a brace in the 88th minute.

Served behind the defense by Thomas Meunier, the attacker wins his duel against Anton Shunin.

In the absence of some of their tenors, the Belgians, finalists of Euro-1980, succeeded in entering the competition, but without completely convincing.

One of their stars, Kevin De Bruyne, is forfeited, not yet sufficiently recovered from his fractured faces dating from the Champions League final, and the other, Eden Hazard, hit in a thigh, only returned. in the 71st minute.

Thanks to this success, Belgium leads Group B with Finland winning against Denmark. 

Knee to the ground for the Belgians, the public whistles

The meeting was also marked by whistles.

Before kick-off, the players of the Belgium team dropped to one knee in protest against the discrimination, while the Russians remained standing and the public expressed their discontent.

The eleven players of the Belgian selection as well as the referee of the meeting, Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz, knelt, striker Romelu Lukaku raising his right fist in particular.

Many sports teams perform, before the matches, this symbolic gesture born of the protests following the death of the American George Floyd, suffocated by a police officer at the end of May 2020. The video went around the world and led to demonstrations around the world whole.

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