UEFA Nations League: Belgium Eases Past Denmark, England Defeats Iceland
Badmus Abdulsobur
Belgium enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win away to Denmark a goal in each half from Jason Denayer and Dries Mertens in their Nations League A Group 2 clash today.
Kasper Hjulmand's reign as Denmark coach got off to a bad start when Jason Denayer put the visitors ahead in the ninth minute after losing his marker to score from close range off Dries Mertens' corner.
The home side pressed high up the pitch and captain Simon Kjaer did a good job of shackling Belgium's target man Romelu Lukaku but, despite decent chances for Martin Braithwaite and Christian Eriksen, they struggled to get many shots on target.
The Belgians took over in the second half, with substitute Dennis Praet snapping up the ball form an attempted clearance and forcing a smart save from Kasper Schmeichel.
There was little Schmeichel could do in the 77th minute, however, after he parried a shot from Youri Tielemans and Mertens reacted quickest to slam the ball home and double the advantage as Belgium coasted to victory.
In another encounter England manager
Gareth Southgate admitted England "got away with it" after escaping another embarassing result against Iceland as Raheem Sterling's penalty secured a 1-0 win in a dramatic finale to kick off their Nations League campaign today.
After Sterling opened the scoring in the 92nd minute, Birkir Bjarnason missed a spot-kick for the hosts as both sides were also reduced to 10 men in the final 20 minutes in Reykjavik.
Four years on from one of English football's most embarrassing nights in losing 2-1 to Iceland at Euro 2016, the Three Lions were far from the free-scoring force that romped through Euro 2020 qualifying in their first match for 10 months.
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