Belgium rediscovered their most blistering form to batter Group E rivals Ireland 3-0 thanks to a brace from Romelu Lukaku and an Axel Witsel header yesterday.
The victory of the world’s second-ranked team was in stark contrast to their limp defeat in their opening Euro 2016 match against Italy.
Despite dominating the opening half, it still took until the opening minutes of the second period for Belgium to take the lead when Lukaku finished a counter-attack by rifling a shot into the far corner.
Ireland had a brief positive spell but Witsel made it two for Belgium with a pinpoint header after 61 minutes, and Lukaku completed the rout with a simple finish after another counter-attack nine minutes later.
With Italy having beaten both the Belgians and Sweden to win the group, the victory puts Belgium in second place on three points with the Irish and Sweden stuck on a point apiece.
Coach Marc Wilmots made three changes to the Belgium line-up that struggled against Italy, and they immediately appeared more vibrant and cohesive.
Their speed and fluidity improved, with the introduction of Thomas Meunier and Yannick Carrasco giving them a menace out wide which had been missing in their opener.
Kevin De Bruyne kept his place despite a subdued showing against Italy and, vastly improved, he set the tone with a searing 13th-minute corner which Alderweireld headed wide, before finding his range with a free-kick.
Ireland were not without their own threat, as Meunier’s adventures down the right flank left space for Shane Long to exploit.
Belgium, though, began to dominate, with De Bruyne’s teasing delivery forcing a diving header from O’Shea on 20 minutes, which inadvertently set up Eden Hazard to fire over.
Wes Hoolahan then cleared off the line as Toby Alderweireld headed another fine De Bruyne corner goalwards.
As Irish resolve strengthened, Wilmots was again left pondering how to forge an effective attacking unit from the Golden Generation’s wealth of striking talent. It took only three second-half minutes for an answer to emerge, as De Bruyne, the game’s outstanding player, tore down the right before crossing for Lukaku, who opened his body and sent a curling left-foot effort into the corner of the net.
The goal seemed to release the pressure on Belgium, who celebrated furiously with Wilmots in the corner while their supporters threw flares onto the pitch. Yet Ireland were justifiably left seething as Alderweireld’s penalty-box high foot on Long in the build-up went unpunished.
Witsel put the contest beyond the Irish 13 minutes later, arriving in the box to head the impressive Meunier’s cross beyond Randolph, whose outstretched hand could not quite divert the thumping effort wide.
In the 70th minute, Belgium added a third in a delicious move that encapsulated the invention and panache that has long been expected from this talented squad.
Meunier, again influential, dispossessed McClean and sent a long ball forward for Hazard down the right. The attacker, outrageously lapping the linesman on the outside, raced to meet the pass before crossing for Lukaku who swept home with aplomb.
This was an emphatic response from Belgium to their critics. With a dazzling second-half performance, they had finally realised their potential in a high-profile fixture, reaffirming their title credentials with clinical precision and real style.
Ireland captain John O’Shea said his side lost their composure after conceding two quick goals. “The big thing for us was to start the second half quicker and better in possession and we didn’t do that,” O’Shea said.
“We left ourselves too open to the counter-attack. We defended with 10 men behind the ball at times in the first half, but when you are attacking you are sometimes at your most vulnerable. They are not a bad side, but at times we helped them out a bit.”
Ireland now need to beat group winners Italy in their final group game in Lille on Thursday to have any chance of progressing to the last 16.
“We have a big chance now against Italy,” added O’Shea. “They’ve been fantastic, but we have to take the positives from the first half and (match against) Sweden, and with a bit more discipline and control we can get something against Italy. We dust ourselves down, see how everybody is and go for Italy in Lille.”
Ireland manager Martin O’Neill too lamented his team’s second-half sloppiness. “We accepted the fact that Belgium are as talented a team, individually, as any in the competition, but the goals we gave away were not great from our viewpoint,” O’Neill said.
“They pushed us back but my disappointment came from the fact that against Sweden we played exceptionally well with the ball, but today when we had it we looked too nervous and gave it away too readily.
“We tried to rectify that at half-time but the disappointment came from the fact they broke on us for the first goal. Then you start to chase the game a bit, get stretched, and of course very fine players can punish you, and that’s what happened.”
Result
Belgium 3 (Romelu Lukaku 48, 70; Axel Witsel 61) beat Republic of Ireland 0