Uninspiring Belgium Defeat Cyprus in Nicosia

Belgium get the vital three points in a muggy Nicosia night, courtesy of an Eden Hazard goal. In what was a drab match, Belgium were uninspiring and have work to be done if they are to challenge next summer.

The visitors made the brighter start of the two sides, controlling the possession and creating opportunities. Kevin De Bruyne did put the ball in the Cypriots’ net but was ruled offside after receiving the ball of a ricocheted Chrisitian Benteke shot. Defensively, Belgium looked nervy, but managed to survive a few potential scares from the hosts.

In the few positive passages Belgium made tonight, a well worked move from Radja Nainggolan and Kevin De Bruyne resulted in a shot that was comfortably saved by the Cyprus keeper. The Cyprus midfield was nowhere to be seen, allowing the Roma man to make headway through the middle. The move really deserved a better finish than the one supplied by Nainggolan.

As the first half progressed, Cyprus grew into the game and were fashioning chances. Belgium were sloppy on the ball, gifting possession to the minnows, and made poor decisions in the final third. Despite all of their technical players, Wilmots’ side seemed content with swinging the ball into their target man, Christian Benteke.

Kevin De Bruyne was in the thick of the action in the first half and possibly the best chance of the half fell to the Manchester City man. Lovely one touch football between Benteke and the aforementioned allowed De Bruyne a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper, but he saved with his feet. At the interval, Belgium showed glimpses of why they’re ranked second in the world, but it was largely inconclusive as to which nation reached the World Cup Quarter Finals last year.

After a presumed rollicking from Marc Wilmots at half time, Belgium signalled their intent through a surging run from Eden Hazard, but his effort was tamely hit. As the second period grew older, it was obvious that Belgium didn’t really improve on the shortcomings in the first half. They were still lax in possession and naïve in attack.

The Cypriots grew in confidence and had a penalty appeal against Divock Origi turned down. Cyprus’ build up play was generally very good in the second half, but quite often they lacked the cutting edge or else picked the wrong option. Thibaut Courtois barely had his goal troubled by Cyprus. Against tougher opposition, the Belgians would be lucky to be only two or three goals down.

With only five minutes of normal time left, the deadlock was broken. A swift attack from the away side saw the ball end up out wide with Dries Mertens. Committing the defender he managed to work enough space in order to get a drag back. On the end of it was Eden Hazard who dispatched it and postponed Wales’ party for at least another month.

For the second time in a matter of days, Cyprus were denied a point by a late goal. In a fairly mediocre match, Cyprus can be proud of the performance they delivered and their fans sounded their appreciation at the final whistle. Widely touted as a favourite for the competition, Belgium will need to increase their intensity if they harbour any intentions of matching the title.