Belgium vs Poland

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - Substitute Leandro Trossard scored twice as Belgium put their Netherlands nightmare behind them to thump Poland 6-1 in a pulsating ...

But we responded well today, that was the most important thing." They took the lead when Hazard slipped the ball to De Bruyne in acres of space in the box, a goal that was to open the floodgates as Trossard grabbed a quickfire brace, his second a superb curling effort into the top corner. And, of course, it's nice when you can score so many goals."

Belgium ran riot against Poland to bounce back after defeat to the Netherlands with three Premier League stars on target.

42’ GOAL - BELGIUM 1-1 POLAND (Witsel). That’s a brilliant way to level. Trossard grabs another, picking the ball up near the corner of the box, and he floats an unbelievable curling effort into the top corner. 28’ GOAL - BELGIUM 0-1 POLAND (Lewandowski). Robert Lewandowski. Who else? Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium). It is hard to find any new superlatives to describe the play-maker, but he was, as ever, the central figure in his side’s win. However, he’s the kind of player you cannot keep out of the game, and time after time he found that half a yard of space needed to make an impact. A rejuvenated Belgium ran riot in Brussels as they hammered Poland 6-1.

The home side turned the tie around with a ruthless second-half striking display to register their first UEFA Nations League Group A4 points.

The four group winners in League A will advance to the knockout finals with, in principle, one appointed as hosts. Robert Lewandowski, Poland forward: "It was a match that will give us a lot to think about, a lot of question marks in various parts of our game plan and overall strategy, but also a lesson on how to play against such teams. Despite showing more defensive weakness as they fell behind to Lewandowski's goal, they responded well and the likes of Castagne and De Bruyne were real threats as the hosts came back to secure a convincing victory. From there, Belgium went on to dominate and took a merited lead when Eden Hazard broke to set up Kevin De Bruyne as he curled in from just inside the box. We all knew what we had to do and I'm just happy we could give this to our fans. Belgium began brightly, Michy Batshuayi hitting the post then having a goal disallowed in the first five minutes.

The Netherlands stayed in front in the group, though, by scoring in the fourth minute of stoppage time through Wout Weghorst's diving header to beat Wales ...

Petrakov made 10 changes to his team for a Group B game at Ireland, and going with fresh legs paid off in a 1-0 win in Dublin. Wales, which qualified for the World Cup last weekend for the first time in 64 years, had equalized two minutes earlier after falling behind to Teun Koopmeiners’ 50th-minute strike from the edge of the area. Axel Witsel launched Belgium’s comeback with the equalizer in the 42nd, Kevin De Bruyne added a second in the 59th, before a double from Leandro Trossard — in the 73rd and 80th — a long-range effort from Leander Dendoncker in the 83rd and a first international goal by Lois Openda to wrap up the win in Brussels.

Get a report of the Belgium vs. Poland 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Group Stage football match.

But we responded well today, that was the most important thing." They took the lead when Hazard slipped the ball to De Bruyne in acres of space in the box, a goal that was to open the floodgates as Trossard grabbed a quickfire brace, his second a superb curling effort into the top corner. And, of course, it's nice when you can score so many goals."

Get a report of the Belgium vs. Poland 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Group Stage football match.

But we responded well today, that was the most important thing." They took the lead when Hazard slipped the ball to De Bruyne in acres of space in the box, a goal that was to open the floodgates as Trossard grabbed a quickfire brace, his second a superb curling effort into the top corner. And, of course, it's nice when you can score so many goals."

Axel Witsel (42') · Kevin De Bruyne (59') · Leandro Trossard (73', 80') · Leander Dendoncker (83') · Loïs Openda (90'+3').

But we responded well today, that was the most important thing." They took the lead when Hazard slipped the ball to De Bruyne in acres of space in the box, a goal that was to open the floodgates as Trossard grabbed a quickfire brace, his second a superb curling effort into the top corner. And, of course, it's nice when you can score so many goals."