The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Red Devils too hot as Welsh defeated
Wales suffered an opening defeat in their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign as Kevin De Bruyne’s brilliance proved the difference in a 3-1 win for Belgium in Leuven.
Harry Wilson stunned the home side with a superbly-crafted 10thminute goal, but the starstudded hosts were soon ahead as De Bruyne fired home from distance and then played a major part as Thorgan Hazard’s header gave them the lead.
Romelu Lukaku sealed victory for the Group E favourites with a 73rdminute penalty after Chris Mepham had needlessly brought down Dries Mertens.
The Red Devils top the Fifa world rankings and entered World Cup qualifying unbeaten in competitive home matches since losing to Germany in September 2010.
Belgium also had the incentive of avenging their Euro 2016 quarter-final loss to Wales, a defeat which cost Roberto Martinez’s predecessor Marc Wilmots his job.
Substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic served up a timely reminder of his potency with a high-quality double as Serbia condemned the Republic of Ireland to defeat in their opening World Cup qualifier.
The striker, currently out of favour at Premier League Fulham, outrageously chipped rookie keeper Mark Travers and then headed home a second in a decisive second-half cameo at the Rajko Mitic Stadium to establish himself as his country’s joint-top scorer in a 3-2 victory.
Alan Browne had earlier ended Ireland’s goal drought after more than 11 hours of football when he gave them an 18th-minute lead in Belgrade, only for Dusan Vlahovic to equalise five minutes before the break and set the scene for Mitrovic, with substitute James Collins’ late strike small consolation for the visitors.
The Group A defeat left Republic boss Stephen Kenny still awaiting his first win after nine games and while there were elements of the performance with which he could be justifiably pleased, there is now little margin for error as they head into Saturday’s home clash with Luxembourg without a competitive win since June 2019.
It was a largely youthful starting XI in Belgrade, such was the impact of injuries and Covid-19 on Kenny’s squad.