Romelu Lukaku bagged a brace and paid tribute to his Inter Milan team-mate Christian Eriksen, as Belgium thrashed Russia 3-0 in their Euro 2020 Group B opening game in St Petersburg on Saturday.
Denmark midfielder Eriksen collapsed on the pitch earlier on Saturday in the Group B game with Finland and received emergency treatment on the field.
There was some doubt as to whether Belgium’s game with Russia would go ahead as scheduled because of events in Copenhagen before it was given the all-clear after the Danish Football Association revealed Eriksen was “awake” in hospital.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 10th minute after pouncing on a mistake by Andrey Semenov and celebrated his goal by shouting “Chris, Chris, I love you” in front of a television camera.
Belgium doubled their lead on 34 minutes after substitute Thomas Meunier – an early replacement for injured Leicester defender Timothy Castagne – slotted home when Anton Shunin failed to hold a cross.
And with two minutes left Lukaku added a late third, running on to a through pass and slotted the ball past the Russian keeper.
The victory put Belgium top of the group, level on points with Finland, who beat Denmark 1-0 in a game which was suspended following Eriksen’s collapse before being re-started.
