Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to help Belgium get a point in their Group G World Cup opener against Egypt this evening.
The Red Devils’ goalscorer was on the field for 22 seconds when his presence forced Mohamed Hany to turn Thomas Meunier’s ball into his own net in the 66th minute.
Belgium almost deserved a draw after a much-improved second-half performance that followed a sloppy first 45 minutes.
They trailed at the break thanks to Emam Ashour’s fine strike in the 18th minute and saw their hopes of returning to the competition dashed by a man down.
Lukaku solved that problem and the Napoli striker, who played just 40 minutes of Serie A football last season due to a lingering injury, should have won it late on but headed over the bar from a well-placed finish.
Ashour shocked Belgium by giving Egypt a shocking lead
A strong opportunity opened up when Egypt went over thanks to Ashuur’s first goal in international football.
He was picked out by Mohamed Salah and, having found space on the edge of the area, the Al Ahly striker took a touch before hitting a low drive past Thibaut Courtois’ right hand.
It was reward for a strong start from Egypt who kept a close eye on Belgian danger man Jeremy Doku with a series of powerful challenges which prevented the Manchester City midfielder from making a real impact down the left.
Belgium had just one chance in the opening 25 minutes when Kevin De Bruyne fired wide on the edge of the area.
Indeed, it was Egypt who came close to a second goal after 32 minutes when Zico fired a low shot which Courtois did well to turn around the post with his hands.
Belgium were unable to find a goal in the first 45 minutes but could have equalized at the break when Doku headed the ball over the bar in the first half.
At the other end, Courtois was called upon to make another smart stop to keep out Omar Marmoush’s effort from a narrow angle.
De Bruyne scored for Belgium
Egypt started the second half on the front foot and almost doubled their advantage within four minutes of the restart. Ashour picked out Salah in the build-up and his cross was ready for Zico to meet and fire a shot that was blocked by the Belgians, which also blocked Marmoush’s follow-up.
The game was finally opening up, perhaps due to the physical exertion required on an unusually hot day in Seattle.
Doku was again blocked by an Egyptian defender and De Bruyne curled a 20-yard free kick into the left post with goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir beaten.
Back came Egypt and Courtois was called into action to clear Salah’s downward ball. The rebound fell well to Ashour but he didn’t show the same composure he had done earlier and blasted a wicked shot across the face of the post.
Marmoush then shot after cleverly turning Nathan Ngoy and it fell to the bottom of the goal.
Lukaku provides the muscle Belgium needs
Youri Tielemans flashed a volley inches wide after latching on to a slightly cleared corner on 63 minutes before the game changed four minutes later thanks to Lukaku’s introduction.
It was Belgium pushing for the winner late on and Shobeir did well to get past his line and get a hand to Brandon Mechele’s header with six minutes to go.
A former hero, Lukaku converted his chance to create more headlines when he inexplicably headed home Nicolas Raskin’s cross from the left after 88 minutes.
