England came from behind to beat Belgium 2-1 in their third game of this year’s Nations League tournament, topping their group with seven points.
Gareth Southgate named a strong side to face the Belgians tonight, headed by the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Marcus Rashford.
But it was former Everton manager Roberto Martinez whose Belgium side took an early lead – Yannick Carrasco fired past Jordan Pickford on ten minutes, only for the the goal to be ruled out after a late offside call from the linesman.
Eric Dier was the man in question for the offside, and the man to foul Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku inside the box, which he then converted for the lead.
England looked sloppy after conceding their first and could’ve been two behind after Rashford’s misplaced pass found his Manchester counterpart Kevin De Bruyne, who could only fire at Pickford from the edge of the box.
But Southgate’s side had a way back into the game ten minutes before half-time when Thomas Meunier brought down Jordan Henderson in the box, leading to what seemed like a soft penalty – Rashford stepped up to score emphatically past Simon Mignolet.
The second-half would be a lot more subdued. Neither side really had anything of note until Mount’s effort from wide looped up into the air off of Toby Alderweireld and landed in the back of Mignolet’s net for an unconvincing England lead.
But the Belgians were nearly straight back into the encounter when a fine De Bruyne pass found Carrasco inside the box, but his deft touch wasn’t goal-bound.
In the end, it was a steady win for England. They had chances late on to further their lead, Rashford with the best one after good work from Declan Rice down the left. All in all, Souhtgate will be a happy manager tonight.
MATCH REPORT
October 11, 2020 – Nations League 2020-2021 Group B
ENGLAND-BELGIUM 2-1
SCORERS: 16′ R. Lukaku (B, pen.), 39′ Rashford (E, pen.), 65′ Mount (E)
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ENGLAND (3-4-2-1): Pickford; Walker, Dier, Maguire; Alexander-Arnold (79′ James), J. Henderson (66′ Phillips), Rice, Trippier; Mount (89′ Sancho), Rashford; Calvert-Lewin (66′ Kane) (Mings, Pope, Coady, Maitland-Niles, Ward-Prowse, Grealish, Ings, D. Henderson) Coach: Southgate |
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BELGIUM (3-4-2-1): Mignolet; Alderweireld, Boyata, Denayer; Meunier, Witsel, Tielemans, Castagne; De Bruyne (73′ Verschaeren), Ferreira Carrasco (83′ Doku); Lukaku (Roef, Kayembe, Trossard, Kaminski, Vanaken, Dendocker, Origi, Benteke, Mechele, Batshuayi) Coach: Martinez |
REFEREE: Stieler (Germany)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Rice (E), Meunier (B)