Belgium was the first team to qualify for Euro 2020 after crushing San Marino 9-0 in midweek. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan also ran out of chances to win a ticket in Group I when they were 11 points behind the second-placed team Russia. The match between the two teams at Astana Arena is just a formality.
However, coach Martinez of Belgium still fielded a very strong squad with most of the top stars he has. In this match, Michy Batshuayi was the main striker in Lukaku's place and the Chelsea striker knew how to take advantage of the opportunity to make his mark.
In a lose situation for Belgium, Michy Batshuayi shined in the 21st minute, scoring the opening goal after a pass from Dennis Praet. 1-0 in favor of Belgium was also the score of the first half.
With the lead, Belgium played quite leniently while Kazakhstan was not too determined to find an equalizer. To be more precise, the home team's weak efforts were not enough, making it difficult for the opponent's defense to operate very tightly.
At the beginning of the second half, in the 53rd minute, starting from a very classy long pass from Hazard, right winger Meunier, after a skillful control, shot diagonally for goalkeeper Nepogodov to pick the ball into the net.
In this match, the Belgian DT held the ball up to 66% but attacked moderately. That is clearly shown in the fact that they only had 12 shots, including only 3 shots on target. In addition, Belgium also only had 3 corners for the whole match, showing that they rarely pressured the home team too much.
Coach Martinez surprised many by letting Eden Hazard play the rest of the match, while Batshuayi and Dries Mertens were withdrawn early in the 78th minute. It is likely that Hazard has asked to play the full 90 minutes to regain his playing style after being out for too long at the beginning of this season.
The way Belgium plays is understandable because they have won tickets early and do not need to take any risks. This can be considered a relaxation match for Martinez and his team in Kazakhstan. Thus, after the first 8 matches, this team has won all and is now 3 points ahead of the 2nd place team, Russia.
