🇪🇺 U21 Euros: Spain cruise past Romania; Upsets for Georgia, Ukraine | OneFootball

The opening games of the U21 European Championships are underway. Here is what went down.

Spain cruise past Romania

Scorers: Baena 55′, Miranda 62′, Gómez 94′

Spain snatched an opening night win in Group B, cruising to a dominant 2-0 victory over joint-hosts Romania.

Like any Spain team, Santi Denia’s side dominated possession in the early going, probing the Romanian defense for an opening.

Spain finally carved out the high-quality chance they desired on the stroke of half-time, but somehow Abel Ruiz put his shot from two yards out wide of the post to keep the scoreline deadlocked.

After the break the deadlock was finally broke, as Álex Baena tapped home a superb Arnau Martínez cross to deliver Spain a deserved lead.

It did not take long for the Spaniards to find a second once the cracks started to emerge in the Romanian backline. This time it was Juan Miranda who popped up from left-back to stab home at the back post.

A late Sergio Gómez goal was the cap on a dominant Spain win, seeing the visitors take over first place in Group B.

Belgium and Netherlands off to rocky start

A scoreless first half did not tell the full story for the two high-powered sides.

While the Dutch dominated the ball, Belgium remained ever-threatening on the counterattack throughout the opening passages of play.

The Belgians should have found the opener in the final 20 minutes, but a supreme team move was stymied by a tremendous Bart Verbruggen save to keep the scoreline untouched.

Some brilliant holdup play from Brian Brobbey lead to a point-blank chance for Quilindschy Hartman, but the Dutchman saw his effort deflected wide at the last moment.

Georgia stun 2021 finalists Portugal

Scorers: Gagua 37′, Sazonov 45+1

Two first half goals saw Georgia cruise past Portugal in a hotly contested Group A showdown.

The joint hosts got off to a flying start in their Group A opener.

Despite seing much less of the ball in the opening 45 minutes, two late goals from Giorgi Gagua and Saba Sazonov saw the Georgians jump out to a commanding lead at the break.

Despite a flurry of late Portugal chances, the hosts held on to snatch a tremendous victory and take a lead at the top of Group A on the night,

Ukraine make statement with Croatia upset

Scorers: Kashchuk 19′, Sikan 48′

With a comfortable win over Croatia, Ukraine took significant lead atop Group B on the opening night of fixtures.

Ukraine got off to a flying start in their opener, snatching an early lead through Oleksiy Kashchuk, whose superb solo run was capped off by a finish in off the post.

Shortly after the break, Ruslan Rotan’s men doubled their advantage, as Danylo Sikan tucked home the second on the afternoon.

The two first half goals would be all the Ukraine needed to make a superb start in Group B, taking a big step towards qualification to the knockout rounds.