England come from behind to win and top group

England leapfrogged Belgium to the top of their UEFA Nations League group on Sunday evening after a deflected Mason Mount strike secured a comeback 2-1 win.

Belgium had opened the scoring at Wembley on the 15th minute after an Eric Dier tackle on Romelu Lukaku in the penalty area drew a foul.

The Ex-Manchester United forward made no mistake from the spot giving Belgium the lead.

England equalised with a penalty of their own from Marcus Rashford on 39 minutes when Thomas Meunier was adjudged to have pulled back Jordan Henderson in the box.

Mason Mount completed the turnaround when his hopeful shot took a wicked deflection straight into the top corner with England then able to see out the victory.

England Fortunate

Gareth Southgate made nine changes to the starting lineup that had played Wales on Wednesday.

The players started the game brightly, commanding 79 per cent possession of the ball in the opening 10 minutes.

Despite missing key players Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens and Thibaut Courtois, Belgium soon began to stamp their authority on the game by creating a flurry of good chances.

Winger Yannick Carrasco drilled a low effort into the goal only for the linesman to flag for offside.

Timothy Castagne judged to have impeded the line of sight of Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Belgium were beginning to play with the fluidity and technical prowess that had earned them the ranking of number one side in the world when, from a counter-attack, Lukaku tempted Dier into making a rash challenge in the area.

Referee Tobias Stieler was left with a straightforward decision to award a penalty.

Lukaku duly slotted home his 53rd goal for Belgium and he proved to be a thorn in the side of England throughout the match, tormenting the England defence at any opportunity.

England struggled to get a hold of the game in the first half, continually losing possession cheaply and lacking incisiveness. 

Against the run of play, however, they were thrown a lifeline on 39 minutes as Meunier’s needless tug on Henderson led to a soft penalty decision.

Rashford, a recent recipient of an MBE, blasted home the penalty to cap off a fine week personally.

Momentum though was still with Belgium as Carrasco spurned another good opportunity on 42 minutes denying Belgium a lead going into the half time.

Improved second half performance

England came out of the blocks much stronger in the second half, more organised in defence and progressive with the ball.

The pressure was beginning to build and on 64 minutes Kieran Trippier smartly headed down a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross into the path of Mount for the next goal.

The Chelsea midfielders shot had deflected off Toby Alderweireld and looped into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Simon Mignolet helpless.

On 72 minutes Kevin De Bruyne fed Carrasco who was only able to stab a shot wide, squandering Belgium’s best chance of an equaliser.

In truth, Pickford was never properly tested after the goal and England looked the more likely to score.

Harry Kane, who was only fit enough to feature as a substitute, missed a free header from a corner and Rashford then blazed over a chance from which he would have been expected to hit the target.

The result consigned Roberto Martinez to only his fourth competitive loss as Belgium manager and ensured England avenged their two World Cup defeats in a performance full of character.

Following the important Nations League victory, England have an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of their group when they host Denmark on Wednesday.

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