AC Milan left-back Theo Hernandez said France defenders managed to nullify Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku in their 3-2 win over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League semi-final.
Belgium initially appeared to be in total control of the game with a two-goal lead at half-time.
Lukaku scored Belgium’s second goal, ending his five-game goalless streak, with a right-footed strike from a difficult angle five minutes before the break.
Things took a turn for the worse for the home side, however, after the interval. France outplayed them in the second half, scored three goals, and completed a last-minute comeback win.
Theo, the younger of the two Hernandez brothers, who scored the winning goal, claimed France successfully shut down Lukaku in the latter stages of the game.
“Everyone knows how he is, that he is strong,” the AC Milan defender said about Lukaku after the game (via RMC Sport).
“But I think he was there for the first 20 minutes, then he disappeared.
“We played a great game. Raphael [Varane] helped us next to Lucas [Hernandez], I was there too.
“We did our job and thanks to that, we won this match.”
Chronicle view
Considering Lukaku was only inches away from scoring what could have been Belgium’s winning goal in the second half — which was eventually disallowed for offside, he did not exactly “disappear” as Theo Hernandez claimed.
Bear in mind, the former Inter Milan ace also created three chances, the second-most after Kevin De Bruyne in the game.
Lukaku is also a joint-top scorer in the competition with six goals, alongside Norway’s Erling Haaland and Spain’s Ferran Torres.
France turned around a two-goal deficit thanks to their incredible firepower up front. But Lukaku was not to blame when Belgium only had three shots in total in the second half compared to the visitors’ 12 attempts.
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