Coach Roberto Martinez used his favorite 3-4-3 tactic when the Belgian team welcomed Scotland in the fourth round of the Euro 2020 qualifiers. He only adjusted personnel when he moved Kevin de Bruyne to the right winger, placing Youri Tielemans as a central midfielder paired with Axel Witsel and Thomas Meunier to replace Timothy Castagne on the right wing.
On the other side, unfortunately for coach Steve Clarke in his second match against the Scotland team, young star Andy Robertson was injured and could not play. Oliver Burke was rewarded with the striker position after scoring against the Cities last weekend.
The classy stars helped Belgium quickly gain possession of the ball and pressure the opponent. The visitors also seemed to have a good grasp of the tactics set by the coach to proactively retreat very deep into their home field, waiting for a counter-attack opportunity.
The home team's clearest chance came in the 17th minute, when Eden Hazard broke through and put De Bruyne in a goalkeeper-facing position, but the Manchester City player shot over the bar in the 17th minute. In the new position, De Bruyne was the player with the most shots in this match, while Romelu Lukaku was quite passive when waiting for the ball in the center forward position. It is worth mentioning that, with situations near the goal, Lukaku was very shaky, while he often handled the ball well when receiving it in the penalty area.
The turning point only came in the first half's extra time. The Scots defenders stopped when Hazard saved the ball on the goal line, so he had enough time to wait for Lukaku to move to make an assist to help the Manchester United striker head the ball to score.
Before they could find a suitable answer, Lukaku rewarded them with a knockout after half-time by doubling the gap. 2-0 and it was also Lukaku's 25th goal in his last 21 appearances for the Belgian national team.
The situation did not change much after that, the Scottish goalkeeper Marshall had a hard day and his teammates could not support him much in the end. In the second half's extra time, the home team's only shot outside the box was successful, as De Bruyne carried the ball past Marshall, sealing a 3-0 victory - Belgium's fourth consecutive win in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Coach Roberto Martinez's team showed a performance commensurate with the number one position on the FIFA scoreboard. Lukaku, who is being linked with a move away from Man Utd, has maintained his impressive form when returning to the national team. A double against a determined and collision-prone team like Scotland was a strong response.
The loss to Belgium caused Scotland to drop to fourth place, three points behind the right place to Euro 2020. Before that, Scotland had secured their place in the play-off round through the Nations League if they did not finish in the top two positions in Group I.
