Kevin de Bruyne starred with a goal and two assists as Belgium beat Germany 3-2 in Cologne. The victory was Les Diables Rouges’ second in as many games under new manager Domenico Tedesco, and came on the heels of their 3-0 European qualifying win over Sweden.
Yannick Carrasco put Belgium ahead in the 6th minute, stepping inside Marius Wolf and smashing one past Ter Stegen in the German goal. 1-0 became 2-0 just three minutes later, with De Bruyne setting up Romelu Lukaku on this occasion.
A handball from Lukaku just before the interval allowed Nicklas Fullkrug to pull one back for Germany from the penalty spot. The Germans dominated the early stages of the second half and also had the ball in the back of the net through Timo Werner, only for it to be disallowed for offside.
Instead, it was Belgium who scored again, with Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard assisting De Bruyne in the 78th minute. Serge Gnabry made it 3-2 with his 87th minute goal, but Belgium held on to claim a fine win.
The game against Belgium was Die Mannschaft’s first against big-name opposition since the World Cup, and on the evidence of this, there’s plenty of work to be done by Hansi Flick if his side are to seriously challenge for next summer’s European Championships on home soil.
