De Bruyne and Hazard inspire Belgium comeback as they beat Denmark 2-1

Belgium beat Denmark 2-1 at Euro 2020 on Thursday courtesy of an inspired performance from Kevin De Bruyne, who scored and assisted Thorgan Hazard in the victory.

Denmark, however, started the match on the front foot, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg intercepting a pass from Jason Denayer deep in the Belgium half. The Tottenham man slipped in Yussuf Poulsen, whose crisp finish across Thibaut Courtois gave the Danes a surprise lead inside two minutes.

As planned beforehand, Belgium put the ball out of play in the 10th minute so both sets of players and the crowd could combine for a minute’s applause for Christian Eriksen, who is still recovering from a cardiac arrest in a hospital near the Parken Stadium.

When the football resumed, the speed and physicality of Denmark’s approach-play continued to rattle Belgium, who appeared lost despite their obvious quality.

Looking to change the game at half-time, Roberto Martinez sent on De Bruyne and the Manchester City midfielder’s qualities were immediately felt.

Nine minutes after the restart, Romelu Lukaku skipped away from his marker and played in De Bruyne, whose touch and composure in the box allowed him to square to Hazard for an easy finish.

De Bruyne, combining with Lukaku and fellow substitute Eden Hazard, then scored himself — a lovely first-time strike with his left foot that beat Kasper Schmeichel for pace at the near post.

In the latter stages of the match, Denmark did have chances to equalise — with Barcelona’s Martin Braithwaite particularly unfortunate not to score — but failed to find a second goal as they threw bodies forward.

The key moment

Whatever Martinez said at half-time — and his decision to bring on De Bruyne.

After missing the first match as he recovered from facial surgery, De Bruyne’s impact was transformative as his presence and ability visibly lifted the Belgium side.

Player of the match

Rarely does one player impact so many matches he features in, and De Bruyne is clearly a special player.

Although Lukaku had a very good second half, De Bruyne’s introduction at half-time surely aided that as Belgium finally looked like potential tournament winners.

What does this mean?

Belgium are very much in the driving seat in Group B with two wins from two. They have already qualified for the knockouts.

Denmark, conversely, are in real danger of exiting the tournament having lost their opening two matches and sit bottom of the group. Should results go their way, however, they could still finish second.

Key statistic

De Bruyne and Hazard are the only two players to have assisted a goal in each of the last four major tournaments.

Since the 2014 World Cup, De Bruyne has eight assists while Hazard has nine.

(Courtesy of Opta)

What next?

In the final round of group matches, Belgium face Finland and Denmark take on Russia.

Those fixtures will be played on Monday, June 21.

(Photo: WOLFGANG RATTAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)