Ten-man Belgium share spoils with IR Iran
Baku, June 22, AZERTAC
Belgium and IR Iran are still searching for their first victory at this FIFA World Cup after playing out a goalless draw in Los Angeles.
The match featured a number of outstanding saves from Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and his Belgian counterpart Thibaut Courtois. Although Rudi Garcia’s Red Devils dominated possession, they finished the game with ten men following the dismissal of centre-back Nathan Ngoy.
Belgium started Romelu Lukaku up front, marking his first start for club or country since June 9 last year. Despite enjoying the bulk of possession and creating several opportunities through crosses and cutbacks, their best early chance came when Youri Tielemans forced Beiranvand into a strong save at his near post.
Iran defended resolutely throughout, relying on a combination of Beiranvand’s saves and timely defensive blocks. Team Melli also created the more dangerous opportunities of the first half. Courtois produced an excellent low save to deny Hossein Kanani after a long throw into the penalty area. Moments later, Iran thought they had taken the lead through an inventive free-kick routine, as Ehsan Hajisafi slipped the ball to Mehdi Taremi in the wall before the striker fired past Courtois. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.
After the break, Alireza Jahanbakhsh came on to earn his 100th international cap, while Iran again tested Courtois with a powerful volley from Taremi following another long throw. At the other end, Beiranvand continued to impress, producing two excellent low saves to deny Maxim De Cuyper.
Belgium were reduced to ten men in the 66th minute when Ngoy was shown a red card after pulling down Taremi, whose run on goal followed a miscontrol by the Belgian defender. However, Amir Ghalenoei’s side were unable to capitalize on the numerical advantage, leaving both teams with two points from their opening two matches.
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