Copenhagen, June 22 (IANS): Belgium broke down the resilient Finns 2-0 to progress into the last-16 with three wins in as many games, while Denmark swept through after securing a 4-1 win over Russia in Euro 2020 group stage.
Belgium dominated possession on Monday and kept Finland on the back foot but for all that the forwards were only able to test goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky twice, through Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku, in the first half, reports Xinhua.
After the break, Belgium remained in control of the proceedings. But they had to wait until the 74th minute before Hradecky deflected a header that dropped off the post, into his own goal to break the deadlock.
Finland posed no threat to Belgium's defence and had to swallow the second goal seven minutes later as Lukaku got his name on the scoreboards after utilising Kevin de Bruyne's build-up work to kill the game.
At the second game in Group B, Denmark stunned Russia 4-1 to ensure a berth in the round of 16.
Russia played with a rock-solid defence before Mikkel Damsgaard's hammer marked the opener late in the first half.
Denmark increased the pressure and made it two through Yussuf Poulsen, who took advantage of a moment of madness from defender Roman Zobnin at the hour mark.
Russia scored their consolation goal in the 70th minute after Artyom Dzyuba converted a penalty.
Denmark responded well and broke Russia's resistance with goals from Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle in the closing stages.
With the results, Denmark snatched the second spot with three points on goal difference, behind Group B winners Belgium (9 points) and followed by Finland (3 points) and Russia (3 points).