World Cup 2018, Belgium 3-0 Panama: 3 key battles that decided the game

It took us 13 matches, but finally, a team that was expected to win big finally won big and showed no signs of cracking during the process. Belgium established their roles as the real dark horses of the tournament, as they comfortably beat Panama 3-0.

The first half looked like there was another upset on the cards, but the half-time speech from Martinez seemed to have done its magic. Three goals in the second half - a banger from Mertens, and two typical Lukaku goals with assistance from Hazard and De Bruyne were enough to take Belgium over the finish line.

As always, there were a few individual battles that went a long way in deciding the final outcome of the fixture. Here's a look at 3 of them:

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#1 Eden Hazard vs Michael Murillo

It was Eden Hazard at his imperial best, not something the Panama defence could handle

On any other night, Murillo could have ended the game with his head held high on the basis of a world-class performance, but it was a pity that he had to come up against Eden Hazard at his menacing best.

A backheel pass to Lukaku early in the game was enough indication that it was gonna be one of those days from Hazard, and it turned out to be true. The Chelsea midfielder bobbed and weaved his way around a Panama defence that was clearly out of its depth, and barring Murillo, saw little birds fly around their heads.

Hazard was instrumental in both of Lukaku's goals. In the first, he was the one who held up the ball in the box between two defenders, before passing to De Bruyne who crossed the ball for Lukaku. For the second, Hazard and Lukaku used their superior pace to get away from the defenders, and Hazard released Lukaku at just the right time to set up the goal.

Murillo, despite looking like he was a rugby player at times, did everything a 22-year-old can to stop Hazard, but after a particular point, it just became impossible. The defender put in 3 successful tackles during the game and might be one of the players whose future gets significantly better after the WC.

#2 Romelu Lukaku vs Fidel Escobar

2 goals in the opening game is a perfect set-up for the Belgian to go through the rest of the tournament

Romelu Lukaku had an advantage of 9 cms and 19 kilograms over Fidel Escobar, and it is not exactly fair to expect the defender to mark him at all times. Considering the unusual pace Lukaku possesses for a man of his frame as well, it was a mismatch from the beginning.

It was a sharp performance from the Manchester United player as well, as he found himself well serviced by the play-makers from his team. First, De Bruyne set him up with a picture-perfect cross and then Hazard gave him the most exact of through balls, which he showed great composure in finishing.

To Escobar's credit, he was part of the well-oiled defence that looked like it might pull off the job after the first half, but Merten's screamer drained all the hope out of them and it was never the same after that.

Escobar came out of the game with a whopping 7 tackles to his name, and 4 clearances to go with it, but ultimately was no match for the man/machine that Belgium had playing for them up top.

#3 Jan Vertonghen vs Edgar Barcenas

Considering his usual standards, it was not a great game for the Spurs centre back

Despite keeping a clean sheet for the team, it was an unusually shaky game for the Belgian defender as he got caught out of possession way too many times than normal. After an excellent season for Spurs in which he was their best defender all season, Vertonghen was the last person you would have expected to have a poor game tonight.

Edgar Barcenas and Murillo made very good use of that, and the latter almost scored for Panama only to be denied by a fully sprawled Courtois rushing his line. It was Vertonghen who had played him onside, and it was Vertonghen who was screaming his lungs off at the rest of his defence asking them to get into position.

Barcena's both shots on the night went out of the target, but it was the right flank they were rightly targetting with Carrasco having an off-night for the team as well.

It might have had to do with the 3 man defence Belgium were running, instead of the classic 4 man defence that Vertonghen is used to at Spurs, or the absence of Viktor Kompany in the team, whom Vertonghen has a shared chemistry with.

Barcenas and Panama have to wait for their first WC goal, but if they can keep up the same style of play and pressure, they have a very good chance against Tunisia. And seeing as how England is England, that is always a possibility.