Belgium still has a slim chance of finishing as group head in Group 4 of the Nations League. Were in our own country the Red Devils 2-1 too strong for Wales thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Michy Batshuayi. Thanks to the three-pointer, the gap to the Netherlands, which simultaneously managed to beat Poland, remains three points. In the last group match, the Belgians will play against the the Dutch in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The Dutch national team won the first leg against Belgium 1-4, which means that Louis van Gaal’s team has a big advantage in the last group match based on mutual results.
In Martínez’s team, eighteen-year-old Zeno Debast, the defensive talent of RSC Anderlecht, made his debut. The three-man defense was completed by Toby Alderweireld (central) and Jan Vertonghen (left). Furthermore, in the absence of Romelu Lukaku, Batshuayi was given a starting spot in the striker position and De Bruyne and Eden Hazard completed the vanguard. The most notable absentee from the Wales side was Gareth Bale, who started from the bench.
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The Belgian shows once again that he can play great football with both legs ?? He shoots the ball from the cross in 1 time with the left in the goal! ??#ZiggoSport #NationsLeague #BELWAL pic.twitter.com/EHcP5wHvjd— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 22, 2022
Even before the end of the tenth minute of play, the Belgians took a 1-0 lead. On the edge of the sixteen-meter area, Batshuayi served De Bruyne, who suddenly found the bottom right corner with a very nice foot movement. The Manchester City midfielder got another good chance to score after half an hour of play. From about twenty meters away he looked for the left corner, but the post stood in the way of another goal. The 2-0 came ten minutes before half-time.
Batshuayi ?? De Bruyne
Once again the two are at the basis of the goal of the Red Devils ??
Belgium has no child in Wales and makes the 2-0 ??#ZiggoSport #NationsLeague #BELWAL pic.twitter.com/OlzmSNhIh2— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 22, 2022
Once again it was the tandem Batshuayi-De Bruyne that brought Belgium success, although the midfielder acted as principal this time. After a measured cross at the near post, Batshuayi was able to tap in from close range. Five minutes after the restart, Wales, who hardly got around to playing football in the first company, found the connection. Kieffer Moore was much too strong for Debast in the air and took care of the 2-1 from Brennan Johnson’s cross. With Gareth Bale inside the lines, Wales was still emphatically looking for the equalizer, but it was not found. In the final minute, national coach Martínez was sent off with a red card for unsportsmanlike behaviour.