Belgium 2-0 England: Nations League – as it happened
15-Nov-2020 22:07:12 | The Guardian
Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens scored in the first 25 minutes as Belgium ended England’s hopes of reaching the Nations League finals
That’s it for tonight’s blog. I’m off to dream of Jack Grealish, but I’ll leave you with David Hytner’s match report and Barney Ronay’s piece on England’s selection. Goodnight!
Related: Belgium's Tielemans and Mertens end England's Nations League hopes
Related: Harry Kane forced to multi-task in blunted, one-paced England attack | Barney Ronay
“Grealish was sensational in his willingness to accept the ball whatever the situation,” says Peter Hemington. “Surely we need to treasure that. But the numbers in support of him in attacking areas just weren’t there, despite Belgium sitting back in the second half. 3-4-3 with five defenders in the team is not a confident selection. We have the players to do much better. C’mon Gareth, you can do it!”
Here’s Gareth Southgate
“The scoreline does feel harsh. We don’t like losing football matches but I’ve got to give enormous credit to the players. Right the way through the game we created problems with the ball and defended resiliently. I feel we were excellent.
“More shots, more possession and more corners?” says Niall Mullen. “Are you saying that England won the real quiz?”
Here’s Harry Kane
“I think we were dominant today and were unlucky to concede the two goals. The first was a deflection and I don’t think the second was a foul. From there we dominated but we couldn’t find the end product. If we play like this going forward we’ll win the majority of our games.
“‘Jack Grealish was sensational in the second half - but struggled to create clear chances’,” sniffs Neil Ashby. “That’s because, as usual, he was sensational near the halfway line where the opposition let him produce no end result - nothing special for me, World XI is an absolute joke.”
No, it’s because he produced what are now known as pre-assists, mainly by playing through balls down the inside-left channel. His ability to receive and keep the ball in tight areas reminds me a bit of Zinedine Zidane, the player Sir Alex Ferguson said “doesn’t really hurt you”. Clearly he’s not at the same level, but he has similar qualities. The other thing is that - newsflash - sometimes sport is about pure joy rather than scorelines and pass-completion stats and xbloodyG. And watching Grealish today - especially the backflick to beat Meunier - made me happy. At least until I opened my inbox after the game.
Denmark 2-1 Iceland An injury-time penalty from Christian Eriksen has (probably) given Denmark victory in Copenhagen, which means their match against Belgium on Wednesday will decide who goes to the Nations League finals.
Peep peep! England will not be playing in next year’s Nations League finals. They were picked off by an efficient Belgian side, who took an early lead through Youri Tielemans and never really looked like losing it. Dries Mertens made it 2-0 with a delightful free-kick after 24 minutes, and that was pretty much that.
England did plenty of decent things - Jack Grealish was magical in the second half - but struggled to create clear chances. There are plenty of things for Gareth Southgate to think about in the next few months, not least whether he can fit Grealish, Kane, Sterling and Rashford into the same team.
90+1 min “Grealish looks effortlessly calm on the ball and poses a real threat to Belgium with his creativity but I’m not sure Southgate will now have the courage to put him in the starting line-up next summer,” says Colum Fordham. “Definitely prefer him playing on the left. Technically, he’s streets ahead of the other England players.”
I think he’ll become undroppable between now and June. He looks like a player who is taking a shortcut to greatness. On current form he’d be in contention for a World XI, never mind England.
90 min Lukaku almost makes it 3-0 on the break. He ran into space down the right, cut inside Dier and slapped a curling shot that drifted a few yards wide of the far post.
89 min Iceland have equalised in Copenhagen! That means Belgium will qualify tonight if it stays like this in both games.
89 min Yet another neat pass from Grealish finds Kane, whose cutback is cleared by Denayer. Grealish and Kane have linked up really well at times.
88 min “What are u on about?” says Andrew O’Sullivan. “Eric Dier belongs no where near this team. England are finishing third behind Denmark with players such as Kane, Grealish, Sancho, Maddison, Mount at his disposal. Come on man, call a spade a spade.”
Don’t tempt me.
87 min Witsel wafts over the bar from the right side of the area.
87 min De Bruyne waves a stunning 60-yard pass with the outside of the foot to find Meunier on the right. Nothing comes of it, but it would have been a sackable offence not to mention the pass.
86 min Kane releases Sancho on the right side of the area. He decides not to shoot - don’t ask me why - and his low cross is cleared.
85 min Grealish runs at the defence and slips in Saka, whose low cross towards Kane is crucially intercepted by Vertonghen. Saka then goes over and appeals for a penalty. The referee isn’t interested and replays are inconclusive.
85 min “Hi Rob,” says Will Lane. “Even with Rashford, Sterling etc available England are too one-dimensional in this system when playing Henderson and Rice in the midfield two. With the first choice XI it is very much ‘sit deep, knock it long for the speedsters to run on to a Kane flick-on’.
“That’s fine, and has worked at times, but when it doesn’t it looks boring and flat (see tonight, Denmark). The other issue is that in the current system the midfield two are essentially redundant beyond sitting deep to protect our brittle defence. So why not try just one of Henderson and Rice and dropping Mount/Grealish/Other back to midfield to offer more thrust?”
83 min The goalscorer Dries Mertens is replaced by Dennis Praet.
82 min After another good run from Grealiush, Kane cuts inside two defenders and rifles a long-range shot that swerves well wide.
79 min Grealish, 30 yards from own goal, loses Meunier with an outrageous, cushioned backheel over his own shoulder and sets off on the counter-attack. Eventually Kane’s cross takes a deflection and lands on the roof of the net. The skill from Grealish was glorious.
77 min: Good save from Pickford! Lukaku almost finished England off on the break. He knocked the ball in behind for Mertens, ran onto the return and hammered a low shot that Pickford saved with his legs.
75 min Rice wins the ball off Witsel 30 yards from goal but then a) picks the wrong pass (to Grealish rather than Kane) and b) overhits it.
73 min If it stays like this, Belgium will play Denmark in a winner-takes-all match on Wednesday.
70 min “Not particularly (59 min),” says Alan Hempton, “but I’d feel a lot safer with that back four than adding Eric Dier in the mix as a third centre half!”
Touché. I don’t really see the appeal of Dier at centre half either, although I have this nagging thought that Gareth Southgate and Jose Mourinho are probably better judges of a defender than I am.
69 min A double change for England: Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jadon Sancho replace Mason Mount and Kieran Trippier. That looks like a switch to 4-2-3-1: Grealish left, Sancho right, Kane behind Calvert-Lewin.
67 min Walker’s long-range stinger is blocked by a combination of Tielemans and Denayer.
67 min This has been a very efficient performance from Belgium, who haven’t really dominated at any stage of the match. They would argue, not unreasonably, that they haven’t needed to get out of second gear.
66 min Trippier is back on.
65 min Trippier looks pretty groggy and is being helped to the touchline.
63 min “Some thoughts about the two midfielders chosen,” says Chris Stevenson. “Both Rice and Henderson are good players in a different formation, but in this role you need players who can play on the half turn and receive the ball under pressure and thread it through to the front three efficiently, not just receive and go backwards or sideways slowly. Playing these two virtually negates being able to play through the middle of the pitch limiting our options. Winks is good in this role, it suits Phillips better than Rice and Mount can do it, but possibly doesn’t have the discipline you need against a top team.”
Phillips is an interesting option. I haven’t seen enough of him to categorically announce that he is the second coming, but he has different qualities to all the other midfielders.
62 min Hazard accidentally backheels Tripper in the face after being knocked up in the air himself. Trippier is down but I’m sure he’ll be fine.
61 min Grealish teases two defenders just inside the area, where he knows they can’t touch him, and then cracks a decent shot that flies a few yards over the bar.
59 min This is England’s best spell of the match. Rice plays a crisp pass into Mount, who takes it nicely in his stride on the edge of the area but then runs into trouble.
59 min “Hi Rob,” says Alan Hempton. “Can’t agree with your assertion that playing a back four is risky if you don’t have a world-class centre half. Most countries don’t have a world-class centre half, and more play with a back four than don’t. Picking a balanced back four which can cover each other’s weaknesses seems the way to go. Mings has been good on the left, so pick the most reliable right-footer and we’re good to go.”
When I said ‘world-class’, I was being polite. Let’s say you have a back four of James/Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Maguire (or Mings) and Chilwell, with protection from Rice and Henderson. Would you feel safe with that? I can understand Southgate’s slight caution, especially when he has all his forwards (and wing-backs, who are important in this system) available.
57 min A lovely backflick from Mount finds Kane on the edge of the area. He can’t quite the ball out of his feet, though, and his low shot is saved comfortably by Courtois.
56 min Saka goes over after a challenge from Menuier, who has just been booked. The referee decides it wasn’t a foul; had he given it, Meunier would probably have been sent off.
55 min Kane lands painfully on his back after a shove from Denayer. Belgium have been quite rough with England tonight. He’s okay to continue.
54 min Trippier’s free-kick hits one of the England players in the wall, Mings I think.
54 min Grealish is tripped this far outside the area by Meunier, and he is also booked. Grealish is pure class; I’m not interested in the alternative viewpoint.
52 min Mount’s free-kick goes miles over the bar. He’s a good player but he’s been really poor tonight.
51 min Kane is fouled just outside the area by Alderweireld, who is booked. Belgium’s players think there was a foul on Witsel just before that and are surrounding the referee. I think they have a point.
49 min “Even that makes no sense,” says Julian Menz, who isn’t letting this one go. “Two inside forwards, both lacking in pace, relying on the fullbacks to provide width, with two holding midfielders sitting deep, leaving a donut hole in the midfield. You mentioned the lack of top CBs, but if Southgate wants to accommodate two holding midfielders, he really has to revert to 4-3-3, with one of Grealish, Mount or Foden at the top of the midfield three.”
I don’t agree that Grealish lacks pace. He’s not blistering but he’s not slow – look at the third goal at Arsenal last weekend. I guess we’re not going to agree on this, so maybe it’s time to settle our differences like real men, on Twitter.
48 min Grealish is fouled for the 24th time tonight. He’s had a good game I think.
47 min England almost give Belgium another goal. Walker’s poor pass is intercepted by Mertens on the halfway line. He finds Lukaku, who finds De Bruyne, who drags a shot well wide.
46 min Peep peep! Belgium begin the second half.
England have made a half-time substitution, but it’s not the one we expected: Harry Winks is on for Jordan Henderson.
“Rob, wasn’t the match in England decided on a dodgy penalty and a deflected goal?” says Karl Debbaut. “Just saying.”
Aye, it was. I should stress I have no dog in this fight - I just don’t think England have played that badly.
“England won against Belgium last time slightly fortuitously,” says Felix Wood. “Looks like they’ll lose this time slightly unluckily. These are the fine margins that show that actually they’re now at the top table - no more heroic failure. International success is always tiny, tiny what-ifs either way. On the free kick - a mistake from the ref, but frankly an understandable one. Rice fouls more than he wins the ball. Absolute bobbins he is.”
That pay-off is the most unexpected twist I’ve seen since the Usual Suspects: positivity all the way and then a sudden evisceration of poor old Declan Rice. It’s almost Hitchcockian.
“I understand what you mean Rob (33 min), but that free-kick was just a yard or two outside the penalty area,” says Keith Sanderson. “What if that had been a striker that had used his hand to knock the ball past the defender and neither the ref nor the linesman had seen it, would you just say, tough luck? So long as it‘s applied with common sense and by competent people, it could benefit the game.”
The problem is, where do you draw the line? You can’t check everything. Do you go back to check the free-kick only if a goal is scored. That would be absurd. In principle I agree with you – it happened with France’s first goal in the World Cup final as well - but I’m just not sure how it would work in practice.
“England,” says Gary Naylor, “are playing like Leicester City without Jamie Vardy.”
I think you’re all being a wee bit harsh. England have had more shots, more possession and more corners. Don’t get me wrong, I would have started with Sancho, but I’ve seen far worse performances than this.
Half-time reading
Related: Ray Clemence always seemed to be in the right place at the right time | Paul Wilson
Peep peep! England are going out of the Nations League. They haven’t played badly, and Belgium had a bit of good fortune with both their goals, but it’s hard to see a way back from here. Youri Tielemans’s low shot took a decisive deflection off Tyrone Mings, and then a dubious free-kick was curled majestically into the net by Dries Mertens.
45+1 min “I don’t want to be all doom and gloom, but this formation rubs me the wrong way in so many ways,” says Benjamin Park. “Our strength lies mostly in attack, while our midfield is also not bad. What we’re doing is sacrificing an A grade attack, so that our B- defence becomes a B. We get run over in midfield and run over in defence, because we don’t play a style that lets us keep the ball. We’ve got some great technical players and should use them far more. I’ll stop my ranting here before my own text causes an aneurysm.”
I know what you mean, but a back four would be a bit risky given the lack of a world-class centre-half.
45 min Two added minutes.
44 min: Good save from Courtois! Mount finds Kane in the inside-left channel in the penalty area. He wriggles away from Denayer and forces a shot that is blocked at the near post by the well positioned Courtois. The resulting corner is headed a few uyards wide by Mount.
40 min “Rob, this only goes to show how overrated Premier League is with all its players,” says Jukka Itäkylä. Just bare it down to only British - let alone English – and you’ve got nothing left at all.”
I’m all for jumping to conclusions, but cancelling English football on the basis of a deflected goal and a dodgy free-kick, in a match where they are without half their first choice XI, feels slightly excessive.
38 min Chilwell isn’t okay to continue: he has been replaced by Bukayo Saka. It looks like the dreaded muscle injury for Chilwell.
37 min “The point Jamie Carragher made about England’s lack of pace is one of the reasons I wouldn’t have played two central midfielders on the flanks,” says Julian Menz.
They’re not really playing on the flanks – they’re more like old-fashioned inside forwards. I’d argue Grealish isn’t really a central midfielder anyway; he has barely played in that position for Villa in the Premier League.
35 min Ben Chilwell is receiving treatment for something or other. I think he’s okay to continue.
34 min After a neat touch from Kane, Grealish’s deflected cutback from the byline is volleyed over by Mount at the near post. He did well to get in front of Alderweireld but couldn’t control the shot with his left foot.
33 min “That second goal is the sort of clear-cut decision for which VAR should be used,” says Keith Sanderson. “I can understand why the referee saw it the other way in real-time, but the decision is shown, in the replay, to be incorrect.”
I know what you mean, but you can’t use VAR for everything. You could theoretically use it for all fouls within 30 yards of goal, but what happens if a wrongly awarded free-kick 35 yards out is belted into the top corner? I’m not sure there’s a satisfactory solution.
31 min Alderweireld shoves Grealish over, another example of the slightly rough treatment he has received. He’s played pretty well, as has Kane, though Mount has been quiet.
30 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “In Dries Mertens’ case, football really has come home.”
29 min England win a corner on the right. Trippier curls it in and Mertens clears.
27 min It’s a long way back for England. They can’t really afford a draw tonight, never mind a defeat.
That’s a lovely moment for a player whose family home is only 500 yards away from the stadium. The free-kick was 22 yards out, to the left of centre, and Mertens whipped a beautiful curling shot over the wall and into the net. Pickford had no chance. England will feel hard done by - it wasn’t a foul in my opinion - but what can you do.
Dries Mertens makes it 2-0 with a classic free-kick!
22 min De Bruyne is fouled just outside the area by Rice. At least the referee thought as much; it looked a fair tackle to me.
18 min On Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher makes the good point that the goal came in part because of the relative lack of pace in England’s front three. That means Belgium can defend higher up the field, and Vertonghen won the ball off Mount just inside the England half. It’s one of the reasons I would have played Sancho ahead of Mount.
15 min Denmark lead Iceland 1-0 in the other match in this group. Back in Leuven, the lively Grealish has a 20-yard shot blocked by Denayer.
14 min Good game, this.
11 min England almost equalise straight away - not once but twice. Trippier’s low cross from the right is turned towards goal by Grealish, and Alderweireld makes a terrific block. From the resulting corner, Kane’s header is cleared off the line brilliantly by Lukaku! The header beat Courtois but Lukaku ran behind him and headed it off the line.
The goal stemmed from a risky pass out of defence from Dier. Vertonghen nipped in front of Mount to win the ball and set Belgium on the attack. Mertens and Lukaku moved the ball across to Tielemans, whose long-range strike took two deflections - one off Rice and a bigger one off Mings - and went in off the near post. Pickford got a slight touch on it, but he was at full stretch and couldn’t keep it out. It certainly wasn’t a goalkeeping mistake.
Belgium score with their first shot on goal!
9 min Grealish is fouled again, this time by Alderweireld. He is so good at receiving the ball in tight areas.
7 min It’s been a lively start to the game, which clearly means a lot to both teams. I must say, the Nations League has been a much bigger success than I expected.
5 min Denayer fouls Grealish on the right wing. Trippier swings the free-kick into the area, where an England player is penalised for a foul on Vertonghen.
2 min A good effort from Harry Kane. Grealish found him 40 yards from goal with a nice little pass. Kane rumbled towards the penalty area, held off Denayer and drove a low shot from 20 yards that drifted a few yards wide.
1 min Peep peep! England kick off from right to left.
Here come the players. It’s a clear, cool night in Leuven, perfect for some high-class association football.
“Kevin De Bruyne was ill the last time out?” says Peter Oh. “I can picture him putting a sick free kick past Pickford tonight.”
Ho-honk!
“As a 58-year-old Man Utd fan I grew up watching the Reds v Liverpool in the 70s and 80s with such respect for the Liverpool keeper...” says Nigel Humphriss. “I ended up having his famous yellow England jersey with black stripes down the sleeve and thinking I was him! He was a true gent and an amazing ambassador for the game.... from football fans all over the world, love to his family and friends. A true gent of the game, taken way too soon from us all.. RIP Clem.”
“Greetings from Belgium,” says Karl Debbaut, before swiftly getting down to brass tacks. “De Bruyne is going to be on fire. In the last game against England he was, as he admitted, a bit ill. We are hoping for a convincing win.”
“Where is Raheem Steeling?” says Robert Lin. “I thought he was in the squad.”
He is but he’s suffered an unspecified injury.
“I’d like to see one of Mount and Grealish start in a central position (8/10, whatever),” says Julian Menz. “Does any team really need Henderson AND Rice?”
I’d say most teams do, especially for such a tough away game. You could argue that three centre-backs and two workers is one too many, but it’s fairly common these days. I also think Mount and Grealish will wander and that their average position will be pretty central – don’t forget that Mount, who was nominally playing on the right, scored the winner against Belgium in the inside-left channel. We’ll soon find out!
There was some very sad news earlier: the former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence has died at the age of 72. He won 61 caps between 1972-83, many of them while in a slightly odd rotation system with Peter Shilton. He also won trophies galore with Liverpool and Spurs, including five league titles. And by all accounts he was a thoroughly good bloke.
Related: Ray Clemence: former Liverpool, Spurs and England goalkeeper dies aged 72
Related: Ray Clemence always seemed to be in the right place at the right time | Paul Wilson
Related: Ray Clemence: his life and times – in pictures
“Mount and Grealish start, yes,” says Julian Menz. “But neither of them start where they should be playing. Square pegs, round holes etc...”
Really? It looks like the perfect position for Grealish to me, and Mount can play any attacking position except centre forward. I’d have preferred Sancho to Mount but I still think he can play that position.
Jack Grealish starts a competitive international for the first time, and has the chance to reinforce the feeling that England have stumbled upon a top, top playmaker. Mason Mount is also included, which means Jadon Sancho is only on the bench.
Grealish’s inclusion is one of six changes from the Nations League defeat to Denmark last month: Dier, Mings, Trippier, Chilwell and Henderson also return, with Coady, Maguire, James, Phillips, Maitland-Niles and Rashford missing out. Most of that six are injured or suspended, though Maitland-Niles is among the subs.
Hello. Between November 2015 and June 2016, England beat all four teams that would go on to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016. Then, when it really mattered, England lost to Iceland. It felt like the perfect insight into a team that for decades had been all hat and no cattle.
That has changed a bit in the last couple of years. The old inferiority complex hasn’t gone completely, but it’s far less powerful than it once was. Under Gareth Southgate, England have reached a World Cup semi-final and, just as importantly, beaten some of the world’s best teams in competitive matches. They have won Nations League fixtures against Spain, Croatia and Belgium and, while it’s easy to say it’s only the Nations League, it’s a step up from winning a friendly. And it should be a stepping stone to beating top-class opposition at a European Championship or World Cup.
Related: England no longer fear the world's top sides, says Gareth Southgate
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