In Tuesday night’s international action, there was plenty of Chelsea focus on World Cup qualification Group E where two of our on-loan players were involved and both won.
Michy Batshuayi opened the scoring for Belgium in a big 8-0 win, the striker who is currently with Crystal Palace firing a left-footed shot high into the net. It was his 22nd international goal on his 33 appearance for his country who were 4-0 up before the break.Batshuayi assisted for the fifth goal shortly after the restart, feeding Leicester’s Dennis Praet for a low long-range finish, and he was replaced on 64 minutes by Christian Benteke who also found the net. There were six different names on the Belgian scoresheet with Bruges’ Hans Vanaken and Brighton’s Leandro Trossard both scoring twice.
Belgium lead their group with seven points from three games with Wales in third place with three points, having won their second game. Their opponents tonight in Cardiff were Czech Republic who had most of the first-half opportunities without any on target, although ten minutes before half-time Gareth Bale could not convert a great chance for Wales with the Czech keeper making a save.Ethan Ampadu, the Chelsea player on loan at Sheffield United, started the game in midfield and his side’s chances of victory seemed to increase shortly after the break when Czech striker Patrik Schick was sent off for an off-the-ball incident involving Connor Roberts, but the Swansea defender was later dismissed himself for a second yellow card which forced Ampadu back into defence. However it was Wales who celebrated a late winner when Daniel James headed in a Bale cross.
Mateo Kovacic was also on the winning side as Croatia defeated Malta 3-0. He played the full game with all the goals coming in the second half, from Ivan Perisic, a penalty by Luka Modric and a late goal from Wolfsburg’s Josip Brekalo. Croatia top their group with two wins from three.
In the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Hakim Ziyech started on the bench for Morocco in what was a dead-rubber home game against Burundi. His side had qualified for the finals and guaranteed top spot of Friday. They won their final group game 1-0 with Ziyech coming on for the final 10 minutes.At Under-21 level this week, Thierno Ballo came on at half-time in Austria’s win over Poland in a game held in Spain. Both goals came in the first half. This followed on from Ballo’s hat-trick scored on his debut at this level, on Saturday against Saudi Arabia.