France 1-0 Belgium: 5 Talking Points as Les Bleus Storm into Final, World Cup 2018

#3 Dembele gamble fails miserably, Mertens not given enough time

Mousa Dembele struggled to make any sort of impact on the game

The other Premier League midfielder who was tasked with giving Belgium solidity in midfield was Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele. But it is safe to say that this was a plan that backfired for Roberto Martinez.

Dembele was never really in the game and it was a shock to many how he escaped the referee's punishment time and again for fouls, some of which were quite cynical. Any other referee would have booked him in the first half itself.

Played out on the left, he was hardly involved in attack and it was only Eden Hazard's brilliance that saw him make an impact on the left. In defence, Dembele was caught out of position or beaten quite often, leading to fouls.

Once they went 1-0 down, Martinez quickly hooked him off and introduced Dries Mertens - who nearly grabbed an assist as soon as he came on with a good cross into the box.

The Napoli man was quite busy and had he been given more time in the game he may have been able to make an impact with De Bruyne also dropping to his preferred deeper role.