De Bruyne to the rescue as Belgium hold off gallant Welsh fightback
BRUSSELS: Kevin De Bruyne came to Belgium's rescue with a winner two minutes from time as they scraped a 4-3 home victory over Wales in their World Cup qualifier on Monday after seeing their early lead evaporate as the visitors launched an unlikely fightback.
Belgium had been 3-0 up inside the first half hour, but Wales fought back to level the game before the Belgian talisman handed his side a potentially precious win in the qualifiers for the 2026 finals in North America.
It was a controversy-filled encounter with two penalties, a key strike ruled out and several lengthy interventions by VAR.
Belgium's record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku got things going with a 15th minute penalty, followed by goals in the 19th minute for captain Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku in the 27th minute.
Wales pulled a goal back from a Harry Wilson spotkick on the stroke of halftime and then turned the game around with second half strikes from Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson.
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