Irish hearts were sunk by Belgium’s counter-attacking brilliance on Saturday.
After a first half in which the Republic of Ireland sat deep, seemingly content to ride out a 0-0 draw against the top-ranked European team in the world, Martin O’Neill’s side came out to pressure after the break.
Once the second half got underway, it appeared as though there was more impetus from the Irishmen to have a go at Belgium, whose defence was made to look rather ordinary by Italy five days earlier.
Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with a vintage finish following a flowing break from Marc Wilmots’ men.
Axel Witsel’s goal was something of a game-killer and it was a tad more casual than the gut-busting counter of Lukaku’s opener.
The Zenit Saint Petersburg midfielder sauntered into the Irish box and headed low beyond the reach of Darren Randolph.
But it was the build-up to the goal that was more spectacular than the leap and finish, as Belgium enjoyed a series of 28 consecutive passes before scoring.
That was the longest build-up for a goal at the Euros since 1980, according to Opta stats.
28- #BEL needed 28 passes to score the 2nd goal vs #IRL, the longest build up in a Euro since 1980. Witsel #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/T6KYK7nRCs
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 18, 2016
Once that possession-laden attack came to an end, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Irish and they subsequently conceded a third, again from an attacking position of their own.
James McClean was dispossessed near the Belgian corner flag and mere seconds later, Ireland found themselves three goals down following a simple strike from Lukaku.
A bad day at the office for our boys in green.
