Belgium hold 2-0 lead for 67 minutes to win against England

Dries Mertens-Belgium

England crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Belgium in the UEFA Nations League group game earlier tonight and Gareth Southgate’s team will not qualify for the Nations League finals for a second year running.

Belgium vs England – Goals

Leicester City midfielder Youri Telemans gave the home side their lead with a deflected shot past Jordan Pickford and then Dries Mertens made it 2-0 to the hosts with an outstanding free-kick.

England had their chances as well but they failed to reduce the deficit and capitalize on the errors of the Belgian defenders.

Harry Kane had a free header cleared off the line by the former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku earlier on in the first half.

Belgium could have increased their advantage but Lukaku was denied from close range later on in the game.

Jack Grealish was perhaps the stand out player for England and it will be interesting to see if Southgate decides to build the team around the playmaker in the coming months.

Tonight’s defeat means that England will not reach the finals of the competition after finishing third in 2019.

Southgate will be disappointed with his team’s attacking performance and it will be interesting to see if England can improve on that front in the coming months.

England have scored just one goal from open play in their last five nations League games. Furthermore, they have lost back to back competitive games for the first time since September 2018.