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Euro 2024 day four: Painful start for Kylian Mbappe as France get up and running

By Press Association

June 17 2024, 11:39 pm

Kylian Mbappe suffered an injury scare during France’s win over Austria (Nick Potts/PA)

Kylian Mbappe endured a painful start to Euro 2024 but he helped get France up and running with a narrow win over Austria in Group D.

Romelu Lukaku suffered a night to forget with a string of missed chances – and disallowed goals – as his side were sunk by minnows Slovakia.

Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo is limbering up for a record-equalling sixth Euros as Portugal prepare to open their campaign against the Czech Republic.

Here, the PA News agency takes a look at the highlights and talking points of day four in Germany.

Nose pain, no gain

Austria v France – UEFA Euro 2024 – Group D – Dusseldorf Arena — Kylian Mbappe suffered a nose injury in France’s win over Austria (Nick Potts/PA)

Mbappe left the field with a nose injury after playing his part in France’s opening win over Austria in Dusseldorf.

Mbappe proved a constant threat to an otherwise-stubborn Austrian rearguard and it was his cross in the first half that saw defender Max Wober nod the only goal of the game into his own net.

Austria had their chances but Mbappe proved a class apart as he brought a stinging early save out of Patrick Penz then curled a golden chance just wide in the 56th minute.

Antoine Griezmann was inches from adding a second and Marcus Thuram shot straight at Penz, before Mbappe’s late exit provided some cause for concern.

Out of Luk

Euro 2024 Soccer Belgium Slovakia — Romelu Lukaku missed a series of good chances as Belgium lost to Slovakia (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

Lukaku endured a day to forget as Belgium suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in Group E in Frankfurt.

The Roma star missed a series of good chances then had two second-half efforts ruled out for offside as a seventh-minute strike from Ivan Schranz proved enough to give Slovakia a famous victory.

Lukaku steered a pair of first-half efforts wide of target then had a tap-in ruled out – 11 minutes into the second half – after being judged offside.

The former Chelsea man thought he had finally equalised four minutes from time after smashing home from a Lois Openda cut-back – only for referee Halil Umut Meler to chalk off the effort for handball in the build-up.

Ukraine pain

Euro 2024 Soccer Romania Ukraine — Romania celebrated a 3-0 win over Ukraine (Peter Kneffel/AP)

Ukraine’s first appearance at a major championship since the invasion by Russia fell flat as they were beaten 3-0 by an impressive Romania side in Munich.

From the moment Nicolae Stanciu fired the Romanians into a 29th-minute lead, the result looked inevitable and further strikes from Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus sealed the win.

Ukraine’s Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was arguably at fault for all three goals and his opposite number Florin Nita showed him how it was done when he denied Georgiy Sudakov to preserve his clean sheet late on.

Record breaker Ron

Euro 2024 Soccer Portugal — Cristiano Ronaldo is relishing a record-extending sixth Euros (Hendrik Schmidt/AP)

Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez hailed the enduring impact of star man Ronaldo ahead of his side’s Euro 2024 bow against the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Ronaldo, who currently plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, will play at a record-extending sixth Euros as he looks to add to his current season tally of 51 goals in 52 appearances for club and country.

“Cristiano is the only player who has played in five Euros and he will now play in six,” said Martinez.

“Nobody gets in the national team by having a name. Cristiano is in the national team on merit and the numbers are there to back that up.”