Congolese-descent Dodi Lukebakio scored a brace while Romelu Lukaku added another as 10-man Belgium held on for a hard-fought win in a top-of-the-table clash against Austria on Friday night to book their place in next year’s finals in Germany.
Lukebakio opened the scoring inside 12 minutes at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna with a solo run before curling the ball past Alexander Schlager and into the far corner for his first international goal.
The Sevilla forward doubled his, and the Red Devils tallied five minutes into the second half off a cross from Yannick Carrasco.
Lukaku, who is Belgium’s all-time top scorer, extended his lead at the top with the 78th goal for his nation and his 9th in the qualifiers. The Roma forward emphatically finished off Jeremy Doku’s solo run in the 58th minute.
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Domenico Tedesco’s men took their foot off the gas, providing Austria with a way back into the game, and Bayern Munich midfielder Konrad Laimer gave the home side a lifeline on the 72nd minute mark. Everton midfielder Amadou Onana was sent off for two bookable offenses, and Marcel Sabitzer’s late penalty provided room for a frantic ending.
However, Belgium held on for the win despite being a man down to maintain their unbeaten run in Group F and improve to 16 points with five wins and a draw from six games. The loss meant Das Team suffered their first defeat of the group, but they still remain in second place with 13 points.
Belgium will take on Sweden next Monday at the King Baudouin Stadium, while Austria will travel into transcontinental territory to face Azerbaijan on the same day.
