Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Christian Benteke came out of the international wilderness to grab a rare international goal. With Romelu Lukaku out injured, it only took Benteke 11 minutes to be in the right place to poke the ball into an empty net after Yannick Carrasco’s cross went under goalkeeper Matvei Igonen.
It was the first time in two years the 30-year-old had scored a goal for his country. Earlier on in the week, he told the Belgium press “If given the minutes on the pitch I will score goals.” He kept his word and looked lean and mean and worked hard throughout the first half of the game.
Igonen was kept busy in the first half with his finest save coming when he touched a great free-kick from Kevin De Bruyne onto the crossbar.
The woodwork came to the rescue again when a point-blank shot from Benteke smashed off the post. Somehow Estonia survived to half-time only a goal down with Eden Hazard breaking free but again the goalkeeper made a great save.
However, it only took eight minutes in the second half for Belgium to double their lead with Carrasco smashing a shot straight into the top corner to make it 2-0.
Estonia somehow made it 2-1 on the night with 20 minutes left to play. Thibaut Courtois could only parry a shot straight back out to Erik Sorga who fired the ball into the back of the net.
Thorgan Hazard came on for his brother Eden Hazard and brought the tempo of the game up a bit. Belgium made it 3-1 after a beautiful cross from De Bruyne found the substitute at the back post to head in and secure the Red Devils’ place at next year’s World Cup.
Roberto Martinez’s side deserved their win and played some great stuff throughout the qualifying using various players to emphasise the strength and depth of the squad. A year is a long time in football but maybe next year is the year for the famous golden generation of Belgium football.
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