Türkiye lost 3-0 to Belgium in UEFA Nations League League A on October 2. Kevin De Bruyne scored twice and Romelu Lukaku added another goal in a comprehensive defeat.
Belgium took an early lead in the 10th minute when De Bruyne finished from Dodi Lukebakio's assist. Türkiye created more shots in the first half but failed to beat goalkeeper S. Lammens. De Bruyne doubled the advantage on 59 minutes, converting a pass from Youri Tielemans. The defence was breached again in the 76th minute as Lukaku scored from Charles De Ketelaere's assist to seal a 3-0 win.
KEY NOTES FROM THE MATCH
Türkiye managed 23 shots but only eight were on target, while Belgium hit the target with 10 of their 17 attempts. The team has now lost four of its last five matches, including the last three in a row. Head coach Vincenzo Montella must address defensive errors ahead of the next fixture.
LINE-UPS
Türkiye (4-4-2): Uğurcan Çakır; Zeki Çelik, Merih Demiral, Abdulkerim Bardakcı, Ferdi Kadıoğlu; Oğuz Aydın (66' İlhan Fakili), Bartuğ Elmaz (73' Salih Özcan), İsmail Yüksek (85' Demir Ege Tıknaz), Kerem Aktürkoğlu (67' Deniz Gül); Arda Güler, Barış Alper Yılmaz (45' Yunus Akgün). Belgium (4-3-3): S. Lammens; T. Castagne, N. Ngoy, B. Mechele, M. De Cuyper; K. De Bruyne (82' L. Openda), Y. Tielemans, H. Vanaken (61' R. Lavia); D. Lukebakio (61' R. Lukaku), C. De Ketelaere (82' M. Fofana), M. Godts (75' L. Trossard).
Türkiye now prepare for the return fixture against Italy on October 5.
Manager Vincenzo Montella evaluated the Italy defeat ahead of the Belgium match. Montella said, "The Italy match had a bad first half. We did the necessary work with our players." The team fell three points behind after their fourth loss in five games. Türkiye will play the return match away to Italy on October 5.
