World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Belgium beat England 2-0

#3 When England grew in the match, Belgium held on its own

Belgium stood firm when England drove forward

Make no mistake, England never really threatened in the match. In fact, they were abject when it came to creativity. But there were a few moments when they came close to pulling it out of the fire, only for Belgium to be on hand to deny them each time.

Raheem Sterling connected to Eric Dier's long pass inside the area but laid off for an on-rushing Kane.

Alderweireld read his movement well and forced him into blasting his effort into the stands. There were moments like these when England tried to create something, but lack of ingenuity and inventiveness meant they looked perplexed after getting near the area.

Dier perhaps came the closest to scoring in the second half when he beat the Belgian defence on the right flank and chipped over Courtois, only for Alderweireld, once again, to clear the ball off the line.

It was the highlight of England's best spell in the match when they upped the ante and really appeared to make efforts. But Belgian didn't put a foot wrong, clearing their lines to get the ball out of the harm's way.

Even England's greatest weapon in the tournament, the set-pieces, lacked the flair as Courtois had no trouble whatsoever while collecting them.

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