"GARETH'S 'BEL'TERS" Daily Star

England Team

Belgium Team

    Match Report by Mike Payne

England versus the current No. 1 team in the world, Belgium, and it should have been a cracking match played in front of a packed Wembley Stadium.  Alas, current times are not in favour of that, in every sense, and instead we had a very disappointing match, where the only saving grace was an England win, not to be sneezed at, of course.  Gareth Southgate made lots of expected changes and one or two that weren’t expected.  Belgium, meanwhile, were missing some of their star players, but then, so were England.

Belgium started the game well, and they forced England on to the back foot.  Quick passing and breaking at pace saw them put pressure on England’s three at the back.  Attack-wise, England showed little in that area in the first 25 minutes or so.  A long 60-yard pass out of defence by Belgium saw Kevin De Bruyne’s shot well charged down by Declan Rice.  On ten minutes Belgium scored, or at least the crowd thought so, well, those that were watching on telly!  Thomas Meunier put the ball into the net but a very late offside flag saved the home side.  There was no VAR so, no argument really, but it was a very tight decision.

Five minutes later, and the visitors did take the lead.  A swift break down the right saw Romeo Lukaku, outstripping Eric Dier for pace.  A last ditch lunge by the England defender, ended with Lukaku being brought down for a pretty clear penalty.  The former Manchester United player took the kick and drilled his shot home with Jordan Pickford going the wrong way.  It was no less that Belgium deserved at this stage as they were dominating the match.  Another fine attack, with fast paced passing and movement saw Meunier again pulled back for an offside decision, when a goal looked on.  England breathed a sigh of relief again, and after that, ever so slightly, forged their way into the play.

England had an excellent spell with ten minutes to go before the break, winning a succession of corners and genuinely forcing Belgium on the back foot for a change.  From one of these corners, as the ball came over, Jordan Henderson went down in the box, and the German referee awarded England a penalty.  No VAR, so no argument again, but replays suggested that it was a soft one to say the least.  But no England fans watching were too bothered by that, and up stepped Marcus Rashford to wallop the ball past Simon Mignolet for an equaliser and complete a memorable few days for the new MBE.  Now I have to ask, was Rashford the first MBE to score a penalty for England at Wembley?  That’s one for the statisticians.

Belgium were stunned that England had the temerity to equalise and immediately came back strongly.  Yannick Carrasco should have scored when well placed but he scuffed his short wide of the post, another let-off for England.  The half-time break came at the right time for the home side and now they could re-group.  Only one shot on target in the half, and that was the penalty, so more going forward was the main discussion in the home dressing room one would think.

In fact, just four minutes after the restart, fine play by Rashford saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin fire a shot just over.  the Everton striker had been feeding on scraps throughout the first-half, so he would have been delighted to see that chance come along.  It had been a good start by England in this half, passing better and playing calmly and exerting some pressure on the Belgian defenders.  The pace of the game had slowed and play was a little more cagey.

Just as England had substitutes warming up, they suddenly turned the game around by taking the lead.  Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier combined well with Alexander-Arnold’s fine cross being headed down to Mason Mount.  He gained possession just inside the left of the penalty area, adjusted his feet, and hit a curling shot at goal.  Toby Alderweireld stuck out a foot to try and block the shot and the ball deflected wickedly off his toe and looped over Mignolet, dropping right in the top corner of the Belgian net.  It was a bit of a freak goal, but none of the English contingent cared too much about that.  2-1 to England.  After the goal, Southgate immediately went ahead with making his first substitutions, with Kalvin Phillips and Harry Kane coming on for Henderson and Calvert-Lewin respectively.

On 72 minutes a wonderful pass by De Bruyne, gave Carasco a fine chance, but again his shot trickled past the far post as Pickford narrowed the angle.  It was the pass of the match from the Manchester City star, but it was also his last contribution as he was then substituted, much to the relief of the England supporters.

Kyle Walker, who made many timely interceptions and tackles in the match, was there again as Belgium hit back through the ever-dangerous Lukaku.  Reece James was then sent on for Alexander-Arnold, to tighten the grip even more for England and with ten minutes to go, Pickford nicely caught a corner before sending a wonderful long, raking pass to Rashford, and England won a corner.  From that Kane had a clear header, but to his anger, he messed it up and the ball missed the target.  A good run by the hard-working Declan Rice, exchanging passes with Rashford, before the latter shot just over with his final effort.

The last seven minutes or so saw England comfortably hold out, with no further alarms.  So, a notable victory, and Belgium’s first defeat in two years.  The final summary says that it was not a special performance from England, but rather a good solid professional team performance, and Southgate was rightly delighted with his sides display, and the result of course.
   

Source Notes