By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Eden Hazard sparkled on Sunday night in Toulouse as Belgium
routed Hungary 4-0 to set-up an intriguing quarter-final with Wales on Friday.
 |
| Eden Hazard celebrates after his marvellous individual goal vs. Hungary |
Hazard (pictured) set-up the second and scored a mesmerising third goal
on a night where he brought his ‘A’ game to the field.
The win is the biggest so far at EURO 2016 and suddenly
makes Belgium serious contenders to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy in a
fortnight’s time.
Hazard
looks happy
The Eden Hazard mystery was very strange in 2015/2016.
No-one could quite understand how a player who wowed so many with his skills,
tricks and flicks in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign the season before could
become such a pale figure last term.
He finished the season very well and of course scored the decisive
goal in May at Stamford Bridge that ended Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League
title challenge.
Upto Sunday, he had been on the periphery of things at EURO
2016 but he lit up the game against the Hungarians.
Hungary have shown no fear in this competition but their
tactics played right into Hazard’s hands. He was given time in possession and
when you do that, he can hurt you significantly.
The goal to make it 3-0 was one of the best individual
strikes of the competition and had an echo to a strike also in May at Anfield
in a dead-rubber Premier League game where he took on half the Liverpool FC
defence, beat them and found the bottom corner.
Hazard looks happy again and he was backed up by strong
performances from the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Axel Witsel. The other
goalscorers were defender Toby Alderweireld, substitute Michy Batshuayi and
Atletico Madrid attacker Yannick Carrasco.
Hungary
hung out to dry
There were no doubts Belgium fully deserved their victory
but the scoreline was slightly harsh on the Hungarians, who played their part
in one of the most enjoyable spectacles of the tournament.
Thibaut Courtois was still called into action on a couple of
occasions and they were crucial saves at 1-0. Only in the last 10 minutes did
the gulfing class really show as Hungary tired.
Adam Szalai put in a workmanlike performance leading the
line and showed he wasn’t going to be ruffled up either by late substitute
Marouane Fellaini. Szalai is not a natural goalscorer but he ended his drought
in this tournament and can go back to his parent German club TSG 1899
Hoffenheim with some much-needed confidence restored.
Adam Nagy was very lively on his half-time introduction as
was Balazs Dzsudzsak, who’d scored twice in their final group game with
Portugal. Hungary have been a breath of fresh air in EURO 2016 and hopefully,
they will become a regular qualifier from Europe for many years to come.
After their very disjointed opening salvo against the Italians,
Belgium have now won three games in a row without conceding. They still don’t
look like a complete package but with Poland, Portugal and Wales in their
section, you can’t rule out Marc Wilmots taking his team all the way to the
Stade de France showpiece.
They will have a real opportunity of doing this if Hazard
continues on this form for the rest of the tournament.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Eden Hazard (Belgium)
It wasn’t going to be anyone else who won this honour. This
was quite possibly the best individual performance from an outfield player in
the entire tournament. Hazard was dominant, deadly and dynamite from the first
minute. His goal to make the scoreline 3-0 was simply fantastic.
2nd: Toby Alderweireld (Belgium)
He set Belgium on their way by nodding home Kevin De Bruyne’s
free-kick in the 11th minute. Alderweireld then showed a calming
influence when Hungary had their best spell in the second half and now has
racked up three shutouts after his own indifferent start against Italy.
3rd: Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium)
De Bruyne’s best performance of EURO 2016 so far came
against Sweden, when he was a class above everyone else apart from his
finishing. A spot-on delivery for the first goal and he threatened the Hungarians
all night, although this was in a reduced supporting role to main man Hazard.
Comments
Post a Comment