Kevin De Bruyne is targeted by a laser pen during Belgium's crunch Euro 2024 clash with Ukraine... before the Man City star almost scores an audacious free-kick just seconds later

Kevin De Bruyne was repeatedly targeted by a laser pen during the first half of Belgium's crunch clash with Ukraine on Wednesday, but responded by almost scoring an audacious free-kick.

The Manchester City midfielder had the green light flashed in his face in the 33rd minute as he stood over a free-kick on the right flank, and the game was briefly paused by referee Anthony Taylor when he pointed it out.

When Taylor blew his whistle for the set-piece to be taken, De Bruyne nearly caught Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin out as he whipped a shot towards the near post when everyone had been expecting a cross.

The ambitious effort evaded Trubin's dive, but just went the wrong side of the post as it hit the side-netting.

But it was still an impressive strike from De Bruyne, just seconds after he had been troubled by a laser pen being flashed in his face.

It was not the first time in the match that he had to deal with the same problem either, as the laser pen was also shone in his direction when he went to take a corner in the early stages of the game.

Whoever was shining the laser pen clearly didn't learn their lesson after De Bruyne's near miss, as they did it again when he took another free-kick in the 41st minute.

After a quiet outing in Belgium's opening game of the tournament when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Slovakia, De Bruyne was back to his best in their next game as he scored the game-sealing goal in a 2-0 win against Romania.

He took centre stage once more in the first half on Wednesday, but not for the reason he would have wanted as he had to deal with a laser pen consistently being flashed around his face and into his eyes.