Instead of the consisted pressure in the opponents’
half, the Europeans held the key to unlock their way to victory. All they
needed to do is to create space behind the Africans’ defence and go wide around
the wings for crosses. This could easily be achieved by playing the ball in
their own half and invite Algeria to move out of their good defending positions
and then go around the defence. Algeria depended on counter attacks.
Winning the ball around the centre circle, they
placed a pass in the left pocket and delivered a pinpoint cross by Ghoulam that
eluded the two central defenders and bounced in the penalty box. Vertonghen tracked
Feghouli’s run on the far post and bungled the Algerian from the back. The
referee awarded a penalty kick and yellow carded the Belgian. The Algerian
rose, dusted himself and calmly beat the giant Atletico Madrid goalkeeper,
Thibaut Courtois who dived the wrong way.
The second half saw the Algerians alter their tactics
to suit the Belgian football. They moved their engagement line a little up field,
opening a reasonable gap between the goalkeeper and the defence. The Europeans
did not make much use of the space, though they seemed to find their mojo as
their rhythm became more fluid. That window of opportunity vanished for a
moment as they failed to recognise and use the possible fatal tactical
weakness.
Algeria could have regrouped and retained their
compactness reducing spaces between the defenders and between each unit (defence,
midfield and attack). The contraction could frustrate the Belgians even more as
they resorted to committing fouls and playing long balls from midfield down the
flanks. One such long ball got to a crossing position and Manchester United’s
Fellaini met the cross with precision to beat Rais M’Bolhi for the equaliser.
Until then, M’Bolhi, the Algerian goalkeeper had many
shot-stopping sessions, only efficiently dealing with a real threat from
substitute Divock Origi. After the equaliser, the Algerian orientation was out
of the window. They panicked and opened more spaces at the back and became
extremely vulnerable.
To their detriment, they lost possession in the
attacking area hoping for a free kick. Hazard raced half the pitch and picked
the intelligent run of Mertens on the right in a three versus two situation.
The substitute met and controlled the ball and finished with a ferocious shot
to the roof of the net. Thenceforth, Algeria had fewer men behind the ball
while Belgium found all the gaps to play the ball and run into.
After all the first time trouble, it became all so
easy in the end for the star-studded Belgium side that fielded Dembele,
Vertonghen, Lukaku, Kompany, Chadli, Witsel, and still had the luxury of Origi,
Januzaj. Mignolet and Fellaini among many on the bench. It must be said that
the Algerians had control of the match but threw it away.
