Lukaku put the game to bed with 20 minutes remaining.
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De Bruyne had been among the players criticised after Belgium’s opening 2-0 defeat by Italy in Group E. But the midfield playmaker bounced back to form in Bordeaux against the Irish.
Belgium’s final group fixture is against Sweden on Wednesday – at the same time as Ireland play Italy, who are expected to make wholesale changes to their team in preparation for the knockout phase. “I think it was very important for us to win today, to deliver a good performance after the game against Italy, which was a setback”.
“It’s disappointing that the goal came from a break after we had the ball in the area”.
With five minutes of the half left, Belgium almost took the lead again when Toby Alderweireld managed to get a header on De Bruyne’s corner, only to have it cleared off the line by Wes Hoolahan.
But O’Neill admitted that the Boys in Green were beaten by a better side, even if there was a slight feeling of injustice at the spot-kick not being given.
Their speed and fluidity improved, with the introduction of Thomas Meunier and Yannick Carrasco giving them a menace out wide which had been missing in their opener.
Belgium recorded its first points of Euro 2016 with a comfortable victory over the Republic of Ireland, courtesy of Romelu Lukaku’s brace and Axel Witsel’s pinpoint header.
Belgium’s Axel Witsel scored second goal against Republic of Ireland in the 61st minute.
Belgium continued to look the more likely to take the lead as the interval approached and Alderweireld saw a header cleared off the line by Wes Hoolahan.
From that point on, the Irish collapsed as further goals from Witsel and another from Lukaku gave Belgium the win.
It took only three second-half minutes for an answer to emerge, as De Bruyne tore down the right before crossing for Lukaku, who opened his body and sent a curling left-foot effort into the corner of the net.
Belgium continued to pile on the pressure, but couldn’t find the all-important breakthrough.
With the Irish defence caught out of position up field, Belgium broke quickly as Hazard skipped past Ciaran Clark before finding Lukaku who had the simple task of slotting the ball beyond Randolph’s despairing dive.
“I always said from the outset that we would have to win a game in the competition to give ourselves a proper chance of going through to the next round of the tournament, and that is still the case”, said O’Neill in a statement to FAI TV. “We need to win against Italy, so it’s do-or-die”.
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Romelu Lukaku’s finishing was deadly, but he was indebted to the work of the men behind him for his opportunities and Kevin de Bruyne was instrumental in most of Belgium’s most impressive work.
