Belgium vs. Wales: Score, Grades and Reaction from Euro 2016 Qualifier
Wales' strong start to Euro 2016 qualifying continued Sunday with a creditable scoreless draw against Belgium at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels.
Belgium, ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, held the majority of possession but struggled to break down Wales' organised defence and created only a few clear chances. The Red Devils hit the woodwork in the first half, while Wales came closest via superstar Gareth Bale's free-kicks.
The latter stages of the match brought a scare for Belgium's Dries Mertens, who appeared to lose consciousness following a collision with Wales' George Williams. Mertens left the field on a stretcher and was replaced by Adnan Januzaj.
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The draw keeps Wales unbeaten in qualifying and provisionally top of Group B with eight points through four matches. Israel began the day with six points and would overtake Chris Coleman's side with a victory at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina later Sunday.
Belgium, who reached the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals earlier this year, fell to fourth place with five points from three matches. But with the extra game in hand, Marc Wilmots' side will still feel confident about its chances to progress.
The top two teams in each group qualify automatically for the Euro 2016 finals in France. The best third-placed team also qualifies, with the eight remaining third-placed teams heading to the play-offs.
After a break in qualifying over the winter, Belgium's campaign resumes on March 28, 2015, with a match at home to Cyprus. Wales are set to play at Israel the same day.
Some in the media played up Sunday's game as primarily a matchup of Bale and Belgium's Eden Hazard, two of the top young talents in Europe. True to their lofty reputations, both created chances in the opening quarter-hour.
In the 14th minute, Bale hit a dipping free-kick up and over the wall from well outside the box. Before the ball could veer into the net, though, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a fine save at his near post.
One minute later, Hazard had his turn, opening up space for himself with a twisting run through Wales' box. The Chelsea man shot low at the near post, but Wayne Hennessey saved.
Hennessey made another good save in the 23rd minute, stopping Nacer Chadli's low shot after Kevin De Bruyne and Divock Origi opened up the Welsh defence. Belgium kept up the pressure, with defender Nicolas Lombaerts hitting the woodwork three minutes later after Wales failed to clear a corner.
Belgium continued to dominate possession for the rest of the first half, but chances became more scarce. The pattern remained the same early in the second half, though Wales increasingly found chances to move forward.
In the 57th minute, Bale flashed a shot just wide of the far post from a tight angle on the left. Bale went for goal again four minutes later, curling another free-kick on target. Courtois saved comfortably.
At the other end, De Bruyne dragged a shot well wide in the 69th minute. Wales' Joe Allen then shot tamely at Courtois four minutes later.
Belgium substitute Christian Benteke headed wide in the 81st minute. Three minutes later, Wales' Hal Robson-Kanu drew a save from Courtois with a low shot from the edge of the box.
The match took a serious turn shortly before full-time, as Mertens sustained a frightening head injury in a collision with George Williams. Mertens appeared to lose consciousness briefly and had to be stretchered off the pitch.
After a lengthy break in play, the match headed to six minutes of stoppage time. Belgium had one last chance to win it in the 96th minute, but Hennessey made an important save to keep out an Axel Witsel shot following a corner.
Grades
| Thibaut Courtois | 7.5 |
| Anthony Vanden Borre | 6.8 |
| Toby Alderweireld | 6.7 |
| Nicolas Lombaerts | 7.6 |
| Jan Vertonghen | 8.0 |
| Marouane Fellaini | 6.4 |
| Axel Witsel | 7.0 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 7.1 |
| Nacer Chadli | 6.5 |
| Divock Origi | 6.2 |
| Eden Hazard | 8.5 |
| Christian Benteke (for Chadli, 62') | 6.6 |
| Dries Mertens (for Origi, 73') | 6.4 |
| Adnan Januzaj (for Mertens, 89') | No rating |
| Wayne Hennessey | 7.9 |
| Chris Gunter | 6.8 |
| James Chester | 7.4 |
| Ashley Williams | 7.3 |
| Neil Taylor | 7.4 |
| David Cotterill | 6.3 |
| Joe Allen | 7.3 |
| Joe Ledley | 6.7 |
| Aaron Ramsey | 6.3 |
| Gareth Bale | 7.4 |
| Hal Robson-Kanu | 6.5 |
| George Williams (for Cotterill, 46') | 6.5 |
| Emyr Huws (for Robson-Kanu, 90') | No rating |
Reaction
Wales coach Chris Coleman (via UEFA.com):
"It's a marker for us to see how far we've come. We're up against one of the best teams in the world and their record is very impressive. Winning a few games at the end of qualifying campaigns is not the same. At the start is when you've got to get your results and you've got to keep it going. I think my biggest game is yet to come and it will be in this campaign. This is a huge game, but we won't qualify if we win and we won't not quality if we lose. We know it's a huge step for us if we get a positive result.
"
Belgium coach Marc Wilmots (via UEFA.com):
"We did our best tonight—we shouldn't be upset. We didn't quite do it tonight, but we can do it it next time; five points out of nine it is not a catastrophe. Every team will get points. We played to win and we pushed them back. We tried everything, but to improve we have to take our chances. We hit a post and (Nacer) Chadli had a big chance. Belgium deserved to win—we had five or six chances, but lacked the final touch. We will keep on working to get into the top two positions in the group.
"
