Nations League 2022: Kevin De Bruyne inspires Belgium to victory over Wales
Kevin de Bruyne was at his masterful best as Belgium withstood a spirited fightback from Wales to leave them teetering on the brink of relegation in the Nations League.
After Belgium had a penalty overturned by the video assistant referee as replays showed Joe Morrell had cleanly dispossessed De Bruyne, Wales pushed for an unlikely late equaliser but were thwarted by a home side who could not have envisaged such a nervy conclusion to a game they seemed destined to win at a canter.
The absence of the likes of Ben Davies, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Harry Wilson was keenly felt in Brussels, but a brave second-half display offered enough encouragement to suggest Wales belong at this level.This was the ninth meeting between these teams in 10 years and the fourth in the past 18 months; understandable, then, that De Bruyne said beforehand he was "bored" of facing these opponents.
Matt Smith gave the ball away for the opening goal, while Wales' defenders were alarmingly standoffish when De Bruyne lined up a 20-yard shot which had Hennessey rendered motionless as it cannoned off the post. It left Wales' starting line-up with 364 caps, 104 of which belonged to Hennessey, whereas Belgium boasted 899.
Johnson was brilliant in creating it, running at the hosts' hesitant defenders before clipping a delightful floating cross to the back post, where Moore towered above his markers to head in.
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