One goal in each half secured the semi- final ticket for Lukaku’s Belgium who are making the semi-finals for the second time ever; resisting waves after waves of Brazilian attacks with Courtois producing breathtaking saves for the Belgian team.
Thiago Silva came within a whisker of opening the scoring in the seventh minute when a teammate’s glancing header from a corner deflected onto his thigh and rebounded onto the post before being cleaned up by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
It was a thrilling match as Belgium took the lead in the first half through an own goal; in a tournament filled with own goals (11 so far). The Belgians drew first blood courtesy of a horror blunder from Brazil. Fernandinho tried to clear a corner but he only succeeded in turning the ball back towards goal and past his keeper to give the Belgians a 1-0 lead after 14 minutes.
The South Americans found their groove and had several attempts on goal, only for some desperate Belgian defenders to get in the way of their shots. But despite its resurgence, Brazil found itself in crisis mode after half an hour when Kevin de Bruyne made it 2-0.
The second half saw Brazil starting the stronger of the two sides, enjoying plenty of possession as it pushed for its first goal of the match.
Neymar had a penalty shout denied after an obvious dive but soon after the VAR was called upon to see if Belgian central defender Vincent Kompany had brought down Gabriel Jesus inside the area. Jesus went down and writhed on the ground in agony, but no foul was called.
As has been the case all game, Belgium was relying on counter-attacks for scoring opportunities. Another break saw Eden Hazard end up with the ball with time and space out wide but his shot screamed past the far post.
Thibaut Courtois made yet another brilliant save with half an hour left to play when Douglas Costa tested him at his near post and the exact same scene played out 10 minutes later.
Brazil kept piling on pressure and its dominance was finally rewarded when Renato Augusto headed home an inch-perfect cross to make it 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining.
Coutinho had a golden chance to level things up with less than 10 minutes to go when Neymar squared a pass to him inside the box. Coutinho opened his body up but his side-footed effort flew wide and high.
In the 90th minute Neymar once again cried foul over a tumble in the box (another obvious dive) but the referee waved him away. The superstar had another chance to square the ledger but once again it was Courtois to the rescue. The shot-stopper leapt up with an outstretched right hand to tip Neymar’s curling effort over the bar with his fingertips in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
This means Belgium will face France in the Semi-finals and Brazil go home. It has been a thrilling World Cup Tournament filled with surprises
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