The World Cup match between Belgium and Canada on Wednesday night ended with a 1-0 victory for Belgium over the impressive Canadian team.
Michy Batshuayi’s goal proved to be the game-winner as Belgium earned a deserved victory in Al Rayyan despite Canada controlling large stretches of the first hour and missing an early penalty. Belgium leads Group F going into their match against Morocco on Sunday after earlier in the day, Croatia and Morocco played to a scoreless draw.
Canada will still believe they have a chance to advance to the knockout rounds, even though they missed a 4th chance to strike their 1st goal in the competition.
For the first 60 seconds of the match, Romelu Lukaku’s replacement, Michy Batshuayi, was given plenty of room in the Canada half. The former Chelsea player eventually saw a long-range shot conveniently saved by Milan Borjan.
When Yannick Carrasco was found to have handled Tajon Buchanan’s goal-bound shot, Canada reacted bravely, and the Maple Leafs were given a penalty.
Alphonso Davies, however, blew the chance after Thibaut Courtois stopped his low penalty kick and the rebound was fired over the crossbar. It was still all Canada despite that disappointment, and Junior Hoilett was the next to come close with a low shot that missed the far post.
Canada was put on the back foot as Belgium gradually gained the upper hand, but it wasn’t long before the 2018 third-place team had to again rely on Courtois to stop Alistair Johnston’s shot from finding the top corner.
As halftime drew near, Canada would have been disappointed to not be in the lead, and coach John Herdman would have been shocked when Belgium unexpectedly took the lead. A long ball over the top found Batshuayi, who made no mistakes with a confident finish from inside the area.
Before halftime, Canada still had time to threaten an equaliser, but Buchanan was only able to divert the ball over the crossbar on the slide after coming in contact with a low cross. Even though his team had a slim lead, Roberto Martinez made two changes in response to Belgium’s awkward performance, but they had little impact on Canada’s ability to keep up the momentum.
The first of several crosses that were sent into the penalty area found Jonathan David, who ought to have performed much better with a header. Belgium soon started to take advantage of the space at the other end, but when opportunities to double their lead presented themselves, careless passes and players who wanted too much time cost them. This was due to Canada pushing men forward.
With 10 seconds left, Johnstone gave Cyle Larin, a substitute for Canada, a chance. Cyle Larin did everything right with his header, but Courtois easily saved it to his right.With 10 seconds left, Johnstone gave Cyle Larin, a substitute for Canada, a chance. Cyle Larin did everything right with his header, but Courtois easily saved it to his right.
With 10 seconds left, Johnstone gave Cyle Larin, a substitute for Canada, a chance. Cyle Larin did everything right with his header, but Courtois easily saved it to his right.
However, despite a lacklustre performance from the star player and his team, they still managed to win. Martinez will undoubtedly use this experience as a wake-up call for future performances that he hopes will be better.
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