Despite the defeat against Israel (1-0) in the sixth and final meeting of Group A2 of the Football Nations League on Sunday evening in Budapest, the Red Devils nevertheless secured their ticket for the League A play-offs /B. Yarden Shua scored the only goal of the match in the final moments (86th, 1-0).
With this result, Belgium remains third in its group with 4 points, the same as Israel which finished in fourth and last place and which is automatically relegated to League B. The draw for the play-offs will take place on November 22 at noon. At the end of Sunday evening’s matches, Greece and Austria validated their play-off status as second in their group in League B. The first leg will take place on March 20. The Red Devils will play the second leg at home three days later. Under Domenico Tedesco, the Red Devils have a record of two victories in their last ten matches, including six defeats.
A difficult budget
The first, not very dangerous, opportunity of the match was in favor of the Red Devils by Arne Engels. The Celtic player, alone at the entrance to the rectangle, tried his luck but his rolled ball did not worry Daniel Peretz (5th) at all. A few minutes later, Leandro Trossard tried his luck with a free kick but the last Israeli rampart worked to deflect it (9th). The Devils had their foot on the ball at the start of the match and Dodi Lukebakio offered his team their third opportunity in this first quarter of an hour. The Sevilla player pushed his defender before entering with his left foot and sending a slightly curled shot but off target (14th).
Yet dominated, Israel almost surprised Belgium after a beautiful combination at the entrance to the rectangle. Fortunately for Koen Casteels, Eli Dasa’s shot hit the post to serve as the first warning (23rd). A change in appearance in the second quarter of an hour confirmed by a fairly dangerous cross from Oscar Gloukh but which found no one (28th).
Un but aura suffi
While the game had found a certain balance, Domenico Tedesco had to make an early change by replacing the injured Leandro Trossard with Johan Bakayoko (37th). In the process, the Israelis took advantage of a slip from Wout Faes to head towards the goal. Dor Peretz, who had taken to the defense quickly, came up against a decisive Casteels (38th).
Until the hour mark, the trend at the end of the first period was confirmed with Israel on the offensive and two new chances while Domenico Tedesco’s men showed themselves imprecise and without solution in terms of construction. However, the Devils came close to opening the score with a shot from Bakayoko, deflected by the foot of a defender, released at the last minute by the Israeli goalkeeper (67th). In the last minutes of the match, Belgium cracked and saw Yarden Shua score the winning goal for Israel (86th, 1-0).
Red Devils Nations League Domenico Tedesco
