England 2-2 Belgium
A last gasp leveller from Jude Bellingham gave England a hard earned 2-2 draw against Belgium at Wembley to deny the Red Devils a first ever win in England.
A Youri Tielemens double, either side of an Ivan Toney penalty put the visitors in charge but the Real Madrid man popped up to avert a second defeat in four days for the hosts.
Both England and Belgium are among the group of favourites for Euro 2024 and they both showed glimpses of why they should make it to the business end of the summer showcase. The hosts had plenty of possession and a lot of nice approach play but were defensively suspect, while the visitors were often on the back front but they were clinical up front.
International Friendly: England vs Belgium certainly lived up to expectations and both managers had plenty to take away from the game. Gareth Southgate’s team showed plenty of spirit while Belgium’s Domenico Tedesco continues his unbeaten run at the helm.
Belgium are a real threat at Euro 2024
They have been perennial underachievers over the past decade and Belgium’s Golden Generation are in danger of going down in history as nearly men. But they were unbeaten in 2023, winning eight and drawing two games and, though the England vs Belgium 2024 betting odds here at SBOTOP backed a Three Lions win, they were seconds away from beating England in their own back yard.
England, France, Spain and hosts Germany are the four most fancied teams for Euro 2024 but the Red Devils still have real star quality. Tielemens showed what a quality player he is and Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is one of the most exciting players in the Premier League and, without their talisman Kevin De Bruyne, they still matched one of the favourites.
Southgate’s defensive worries
England’s meeting with Belgium was the Three Lions’ second big test in four days after they lost 1-0 to Brazil and, while they showed a lot of promise in the opposition half it was a defensive nightmare which left them 2-1 down at the break. John Stones picked up an injury on ten minutes and from that moment on the England defence looked shaky, and when Jordan Pickford passed a shocking ball out from the left side of the box he was punished severely. The ball was played into Youri Tielemens who passed it into the corner of the net with the England stopper scrambling back.
England fought back to 1-1 but they hit the half time break behind when the Red Devils hit them on the break. As the Three Lions pressed they only left Ezri Konsa and Lewis Dunk back to deal with Romelu Lukaku and they failed. Tielemens found the Roma striker with a long ball and he took advantage of a rash challenge from Dunk before crossing for the onrushing Tielemens to head home. Dunk has been an imperious player in the heart of Brighton’s defence for years; but he has work to do to convince Southgate he can bolster England’s; rearguard.
Toney is the Penalty Spot King
Brentford’s Ivan Toney had a chance to stake a claim for a Euro 2024 spot and he did himself no harm at all with a trademark penalty conversion on twenty minutes. He won the spot kick himself when he latched on to a brilliant through ball from Bellingham and was strong to hold off a challenge form Jan Vertonghen before the Belgium centre back hauled him down.
The ref pointed to the spot and when Toney stepped up was there any doubt? Of course not! With his steely eyes and sure run up he hammered the ball low into the corner and beyond the Belgium keeper. The Bees man has scored 29 in 30 penalties and that statistic must have lodged itself in the mind of Gareth Southgate who watched three of his players miss spot kicks in the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy.
Mainoo and Bowen make their case
While England’s squad players largely failed to impress against Brazil on Saturday the Three Lions put up a better show against Belgium on Tuesday night and a number of players, alongside Toney put in a strong performance. Jude Bellinghan and Phil Foden, as well as captain Declan Rice will all be in Southgate’s main group but Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen both made a big claim for a Euro 2024 place.
At 18 years of age Mainoo has only just broken into the Red Devils team but he played 75 minutes of this game and he didn’t look overawed or out of place. His tireless running made space for others, clever positioning broke up opposition attacks and he was a danger up front, coming close to levelling in the second half. Bowen was equally impressive, pacey and strong on the ball and he was unlucky to have a first half goal chalked off by VAR. Having made big contributions to the England vs Belgium 2024 highlights I think both Mainoo and Bowen should put their summer holidays on hold.
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