#Euro2020 Review: MATCHDAY 2
Day 2 of #Euro2020 was as exciting as they come! Filled with moments of excitement and moments of horror and unity, day 2 brought a little bit of everything to the scene. We saw three matches played on Saturday - one to finish off Matchday 1 in Group A, and two games to play through Group B's Matchday 1 schedule.
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Switzerland vs Wales | Group A - Matchday 1 | Baku, Azerbaijan A point snatched from the jaws of defeat! Wales escaped their clash with Switzerland with a point after Kieffer Moore headed in an equalizing goal in the 74th minute of the match. Switzerland came out swinging in the second match of #Euro2020 and would finally find their breakthrough goal 49 minutes into the match when Breel Embolo headed in a corner. It was then though that the momentum of the game seemed to swing. Wales wasn't overly dominant, but Switzerland's attack couldn't seem to find their way through anyway. As mentioned above, Kieffer Moore found the equalizer in the 25 minutes after the first goal heading in a corner of his own. Switzerland almost had a late winner, but the goal was overturned and taken away by VAR for offside! Switzerland finished the game with twice as many shots as Wales, finishing with 18 shots with 4 on goal. The Swiss also out-possessed the Welsh 62%-32%. Finally, a number you don't see everyday, Switzerland finished with 12, yes TWELVE, corner kicks. With the result, Italy will finish #Euro2020 Matchday 1 on top of Group A, while Switzerland and Wales both come in tied for 2nd place with Turkey trailing behind at the bottom of the table.
Denmark vs Finland | Group B - Matchday 1 | Copenhagen, Denmark It was the story of the day and likely will be the story of the tournament. It was a horrifying moment as late in the first half, Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field and was later administered CPR on the field by medical staff. Eriksen would regain consciousness on the field but was taken to a nearby hospital where it was then announced he was awake and stable. Following the collapse, the game was suspended until further notice but ended up resuming several hours later.
Leading up to the stoppage in play, Denmark had completely dominated the game but had no goal to show for it. Even after play resumed, Denmark was still in charge of the game and run of play for the most part. All of that said, they still had no goal to show for it. Instead it was Finland who would strike first in this game as Joel Pohjanpalo found the eventual winner in the 60th minute of the match.
Denmark finished the game with 22 shots but 0 goals. Finland finished with 1 shot and 1 goal. Talk about efficiency! With the win, Finland finishes #Euro2020 Matchday 1 at 2nd place on the table sitting behind Belgium by goal difference. Denmark sits in 3rd ahead of Russia, also based on goal difference.
Belgium vs Russia | Group B - Matchday 1 | Saint Petersburg, Russia Belgium is rated as the top international team in the world for a reason. Even without Kevin De Bruyne or Eden Hazard in the starting lineup, Belgium still made it look easy as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind goals from Romelu Lukaku and Thomas Meunier. Romelu Lukaku put the icing on the cake in the 88th minute when he slipped a low ball past the Russia GK off an assist from Thomas Meunier. Based purely on stats, it wouldn't look like Belgium overly dominated the game like they actually did. Belgium did outpossess Russia 62%-38%, but they only outshot the Russians 9-5. With the win, Belgium finishes #Euro2020 Matchday 1 on top of the table for Group B. Russia moves to the bottom of the table.
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Check back here tomorrow for another update just like this one on the previous days' matches! Also follow us at @SSN_Soccer for more up-to-date content from #Euro2020!