Wales came away with another magical moment against Belgium but Harry Wilson’s wonderful strike was rendered redundant as they slipped to defeat in their opening World Cup qualifier in Leuven.
Wilson rounded off a breathtaking counterattack to establish an early lead but the team ranked No 1 in the world responded in style, Kevin De Bruyne blasting in from distance before a Thorgan Hazard header primed Belgium for a comfortable comeback victory, sealed by Romelu Lukaku’s second-half penalty.
Wales’s greatest day came when these sides last met five years ago: Hal Robson-Kanu, then a free agent, nonchalantly turned Thomas Meunier and Axel Witsel on the penalty spot before beating Thibaut Courtois to propel Chris Coleman’s side into the Euro 2016 semi-finals. For Wales, Gareth Bale and Joe Allen were the only survivors from the starting lineup in Lille but the latter was forced off with a hamstring injury after seven minutes.
So it was over to Bale inspire a youthful Wales team, already without Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies through injury, and how he delivered. Everything clicked as Wales streamed forward down the right. Bale flicked the ball into Connor Roberts with the outside of his left boot and three divine touches later, including another classy Bale pass, this time with his right foot, Wilson swept the ball into the far corner to crown a magnificent break.
“It was a brilliant move from front to back, a great finish by Harry and there were murmurs of Brazil in the celebration,” Roberts said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t hold on.”
The warning signs, unsurprisingly, had De Bruyne’s fingerprints. The Manchester City midfielder sent a blistering cross into the six-yard box from the right, only for Lukaku to spoon over moments before Hazard fizzed the ball into his path infield. De Bruyne composed himself with his first touch and then lashed a thunderous strike into the far corner with his second.
Belgium began to stretch their legs and six minutes later Hazard helped Roberto Martínez’s side into the lead. Meunier’s hanging cross looped towards the back post and Roberts’s untimely slip allowed Hazard a free header at goal, which he unmistakably sent into the bottom corner.
For the fourth successive game it was down to the former Wales defender Robert Page and Albert Stuivenberg, one of Mikel Arteta’s assistants at Arsenal, to lead the team in the continued absence of Ryan Giggs. Page will also oversee the friendly against Mexico on Saturday and next week’s qualifier against Czech Republic, who put six goals past Estonia on Wednesday.
Belgium exerted their grip on Wales but the visitors returned reinvigorated after the break. Bale was the ringleader and the on-loan Tottenham forward afforded himself a wry smile after attempting to pull Wales level with an overhead kick. Daniel James did superbly to keep Roberts’s cross alive at the back post, hooking the ball back across goal, but Bale’s acrobatics were in vain as he failed to make clean contact. Wales operated without a striker per se – Wilson played as a false nine before being replaced by Tyler Roberts – and failed to penetrate the hosts as Belgium sought to kill the game.
Wales allowed Belgium to complete the turnaround when Chris Mepham clumsily upended Dries Mertens inside the box after Danny Ward, preferred to Wayne Hennessey in goal, failed to claw a teasing Meunier cross to safety. Lukaku stepped up to send Ward the wrong way and deflate Wales’s early optimism. “They are No 1 in the world for a reason,” Page said.
“We got off to the perfect start but when you give teams like them half a chance, inevitably it is going to end up in the back of the net. For large parts of the second half we went toe to toe with Belgium and that is credit to the players.”
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PrbjEZ
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