Romelu Lukaku was back in Belgium’s starting XI as they took on Cyprus in World Cup qualifying in Nicosia this evening.
His Everton team-mate, Kevin Mirallas, had to be content with watching on the bench again having been named among the substitutes alongside Lukaku for the Red Devils’ friendly defeat to Spain last week.
Cyprus got off to a losing start in their World Cup Group H opener, eventually succumbing to a 0-3 defeat against group favourites Belgium at the GSP Stadium on Tuesday night.
The hosts put in a spirited performance but the riches of talents throughout the Belgian side eventually resulted in a comfortable day’s work for the visitors, though young goalkeeper Constantinos Panagi caught the eye.
A respectable European Championship qualifying campaign meant there were few changes to the Cyprus squad, though there were some surprises in Christakis Christoforou’s first official starting eleven.
Panagi was handed just his second cap while 18-year-old Juventus starlet Grigoris Kastanos made his first ever international start.
Cyprus managed to keep Belgium out for 86 minutes in the same fixture exactly a year ago, but the deadlock was broken a lot sooner this time around.
New Belgium boss Roberto Martinez was looking to bounce back after his first match in charge ended in a 2-0 home defeat to Spain and Lukaku put him on course for a first win by heading home to make it 1-0 at half-time.
The Blues’ striker then added a second headed goal in the second period before making way for Michy Batshuayi later in the half. Yannick Carrasco added a third goal with nine minutes to go before Batshuayi missed a last-minute penalty.
