Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to help Belgium get a point in the match World Cup Group G The opening match against Egypt this evening.
The Red Devils’ all-time top scorer was on the field for only 22 seconds when his presence forced Mohamed Hani to divert Thomas Meunier’s cross in the 66th minute into his own goal.
Belgium almost deserved a draw after a much-improved second-half display that followed a poor opening 45 minutes.
They fell behind at the end of the first half thanks to Emam Ashour’s excellent strike in the 18th minute and saw their hopes of getting back into the game dashed by the lack of a target man.
Lukaku solved that problem and the Napoli striker, who played just 40 minutes of Serie A last season due to persistent injuries, should have won it late on but headed over the bar when well placed.
Ashour stuns Belgium and gives Egypt a surprise lead
The match opened with a bang as Egypt took the lead thanks to Ashour’s first goal in international football.
Mohamed Salah passed it on, and after finding space on the edge of the penalty area, the Al Ahly striker touched the ball before firing a low shot past Thibaut Courtois’ right-hander.
It was reward for a strong start from Egypt who were keeping a close eye on Belgian danger man Jeremy Doku through a series of strong challenges that prevented the Manchester City winger from making any appreciable impact down the left flank.
Belgium had only one half-chance in the first 25 minutes, as Kevin De Bruyne shot a ball wide from the edge of the penalty area.
In fact, it was Egypt who came close to scoring the second goal in the 32nd minute when Zico unleashed a low shot, but Courtois curled it beautifully around the post with his fingertips.
Belgium did not have a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes, but they could have equalized in the second half when Doku shot over the crossbar in stoppage time of the first half.
On the other hand, Courtois was called upon to make another smart save to keep out Omar Marmoush’s shot from a tight angle.
De Bruyne hits the post for Belgium
Egypt started the second half with attacking force and almost doubled their lead within four minutes of the start of the second half. Ashour passed Salah in the overlap and passed a perfect cross for Zico to meet it and fire a shot that was blocked by the Belgian defense, which stifled Marmoush’s follow-up.
The game was finally starting to open up, perhaps due to the physical effort required on an unusually hot day in Seattle.
Doku was again fouled by an Egyptian defender and De Bruyne curled a brilliant 20-yard free-kick onto the left post with goalkeeper Mostafa Shabir beating.
Egypt came back with Courtois called into action to keep out Salah’s header. The rebound fell well for Ashour, but he did not show the same calmness as he had shown earlier and shot a powerful ball into the face of the goal.
Marmoush then shot over the goal after cleverly passing the ball to Nathan Njoy and he shot the ball on target.
Lukaku provides needed muscle for Belgium
Youri Tielemans fired a stunning shot inches wide after latching on to a partially cleared corner kick in the 63rd minute before the game changed four minutes later thanks to Lukaku’s introduction.
It was Belgium who were pressing for a late win, and Schubert brilliantly crossed his own line and put his hand on Brandon Michel’s header six minutes from time.
Having previously been the hero, Lukaku wasted his chance to make more headlines when he inexplicably headed over a right-wing cross from Nicolas Raskin after 88 minutes.
