European Blues: Round 2 Review
There were wins for all Chelsea contingents in France with the round two matches completed as some also secured a place in the knockout stages.
First it was Gary Cahill who played the full minutes of his country's 2;1 late win over Wales in an all British encounter.England were trailing 1:0 at half time to a Gareth Bale distant free-kick but the introduction of attackers Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge after the break injected more pace into the Three Lions attack. Vardy equalized soon after the break before Sturridge sealed all three points with a late effort.A point from their final match will gurantee a place in the knockouts.
Antonio Conte guided Italy to a place in the knockout stages as a delightful Eder run in the 88th minute ended with a cool finish to mar Sweden's hope of making it through to the last 16.
Cesc Fabregas played 70 minutes of Spain's 3;0 win over Turkey to seal a place in the last 16.Alvaro Morata scored a brace either side of a Nolito strike in 37th minute after the Turkish defence dealt poorly with a Fabregas cross. Fabregas was replaced by Koke with 20 minutes to play while Azplicueta got his first minutes of action at the tournament coming on to replace Jordi Alba with eight minutes left on the clock.Pedro was resigned to a place on the bench.
Belgium captained by our own Eden Hazard recorded their first three points with a cruising 3:0 win over Northern Ireland. Romelu Lukaku scored twice,the second assisted by Hazard who skipped past Ciaran Clark and squared perfectly for a cool finish by the Evertonian man. Axel Witsel got the other goal for Belgium who needs at least a point in their final match against Sweden to make it to the last 16. Courtois also recorded his first clean sheet at the Euros though being rarely troubled throughout the match.