England 2-1 Belgium: Hosts secure comeback win

Marcus Rashford's penalty and Mason Mount's deflected strike earned a come-from-behind victory for the Three Lions at Wembley.

Match in brief

The Red Devils dominated the opening exchanges and took the lead via Romelu Lukaku's coolly-taken penalty, the Internazionale forward having been brought down by Eric Dier.

Marcus Rashford is congratulated after giving England the leadPOOL/AFP via Getty Images

However, Rashford pulled the Three Lions level from the spot just before half-time with their only attempt on target of the first half, after Thomas Meunier had impeded Jordan Henderson while jostling for a corner.

Mount was able to capitalise on some rare time in the Belgian penalty area after the interval, with his effort spinning off Toby Alderweireld's boot and over the stranded Simon Mignolet.

Simon Hart, England reporter

They were second best for long spells of the first half but England can take satisfaction from having shown the mettle to come from behind to defeat the world's highest-ranked team and move top of Group 2. Rashford's equaliser completed a memorable weekend for him personally, that began with news of his MBE, while Mount's winner capped an improved second-half display from the hosts. Not many sides beat Belgium and Gareth Southgate clearly drew great encouragement from the collective defensive effort showed by his developing team to succeed where England had twice failed at the 2018 World Cup.

Dante Bellon, Belgium reporter

Belgium's unbeaten run, stretching back nearly two years, comes to an end. The visitors had control of the first half, but forgot how to play their football in the second. This was not like Belgium at all. They must now see this as a wake-up call for the game in Iceland.

Reaction

Mason Mount, England midfielder: "We were hanging in there at half-time. But we knew we could regroup and fix the problems we were having. We tried to stay higher and win the ball back as quickly as we could. We didn't want them having a lot of the ball in our half. So we tried to keep the ball better and create chances. We had a couple of chances and it worked."

Jordan Henderson, England midfielder: "We managed the game very well, particularly the second half. I thought we were a lot stronger and created one or two chances which we could have scored from and defended well overall. We know with the players they've got that they are going to create problems, but we kept that to a minimum and managed to get the points, which is important."

Romelu Lukaku, Belgium forward: "We conceded two goals that on another night we may not concede and lost a game we might never lose again. If we were leading 3-0 after the first half, nobody would have said anything."

Key stats

• England have won their last nine home matches in all competitions.
• Rashford has netted on each of his last four appearances for the Three Lions.
• Lukaku's penalty made it 13 goals in his last 11 Belgium games for the forward.

Line-ups

Romelu Lukaku gives Belgium the leadGetty Images

England: Pickford; Walker, Dier, Maguire; Alexander-Arnold (James 79), Henderson (Phillips 66), Rice, Trippier; Mount (Sancho 89), Rashford; Calvert-Lewin (Kane 66)

Belgium: Mignolet; Alderweireld, Boyata, Denayer; Meunier, Witsel, Tielemans, Castagne; De Bruyne (Verschaeren 73), R Lukaku, Carrasco (Doku 83)

What's next?

England welcome Denmark on Wednesday while Belgium visit Iceland.