World Cup 2018: 3 key battles that decided the game - Belgium 2-0 England

Belgium's golden generation made light work of an English side out of ideas and invention, by beating them 2-0 to secure their best-ever World Cup finish. An early goal from Thomas Meunier and a finisher from Eden Hazard helped them win bronze.

They flew out of the blocks early on in the game, which resulted in Meunier's goal. Once again, their flamboyance coupled with a sense of pace and urgency proved to leave a telling effect onto proceedings and thus, lead to a decisive moment.

The Red Devils certainly looked the better side in terms of sharpness and purpose while going forward. On the back of beautiful interchange of passes between Kevin De Bruyne, Meunier and Eden Hazard, they looked more probable of adding a second goal. De Bruyne tried to pass one into the back off the net, but was denied by a fine reaction save made by Jordan Pickford.

The best chance for England fell to their top scorer, Harry Kane, who spurned a teed off ball by Sterling over the goal. After the half an hour mark, Martinez's side took the foot of the gas, which in-turn allowed the Englishmen to settle in. Although they tried to find a killer pass by recycling possession over and over again, Kane and co couldn't carve out an opening.

The second-half of the game was rather quiet and lackluster till the 70th minute or so, as Belgium stood firm at the back and banked on their counter-attacking abilities. Meunier was in again on goal, only to be denied by a sliding last-ditch tackle from Delph.

Then, a one-two played between Rashford and Dier set the latter free, who chipped the ball over an on-rushing Courtois, but was denied by a magnificent clearance off the goal-line by Toby Alderweireld.

Meunier struck a fantastic volley, which was kept out by an outstretched right hand of Pickford. Had he scored that volley, it would have gone down as this World Cup's best goal due to some swift movement and passing.

The game was won and lost because of some battles that concluded on the pitch. Here are three of those battles that decided the game between Belgium and England.

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#3 Vincent Kompany vs Harry Kane

A fierce battle!

World Cup 2018's golden boot-elect - Harry Kane, was up against a titanic figure in Vincent Kompany. Much to his frustration, he wasn't allowed a sniff inside the box by the Manchester City skipper.

Kane was kept up in wraps by Kompany who closed him down well, choked him for space and didn't allow the Spurs forward to turn or shoot. Both naturally physical players went head to head, but clearly the center-back gained ascendancy.

During set-piece situations, Kompany always won the first ball and shut down Kane's heading abilities. He also blocked the crosses that were played in towards the striker and snuffed out danger by staying ahead of Kane.

When Kane missed England's best chance of the game in the opening phase, it was the former Belgium captain who made it difficult by throwing his body on the line of the shot.

#2 Thomas Meunier vs Danny Rose

You couldn't keep him out of the action!

Right from the word go, Thomas Meunier hit the ground running and charged down the right flank with tons of intent, purpose and conviction.

Defensively, he was safe as a house. Due to a suspension that kept him out of the game against France, he came into this match fresher and sharper. This was clearly highlighted in his defensive contribution.

He thwarted danger away, cleared the ball off his lines many a time, tackled well and played it safe. Tactically and in a positional aspect, he was on top of his game.

While going forward, we all know what he's done this World Cup. Fearlessly darting forward and supplying crosses into the box, the PSG defender pushed Danny Rose further back. He kept hold of the ball well, unleashed his pace and made full use of the spaces available.

Up against Rose, he always had the better of the Spurs' full-back. There was not one moment where the left-back was able to accelerate down the left and deliver a cross into the box.

Even for the goal, Meunier ran down the pitch and was second favourite to meet Chadli's cross. But in a flash, he moved ahead of Rose and slotted it past Pickford to open the scoring.

Probably due to this sheer domination, Southgate was forced to make a change which saw Rose out at half-time.

#1 Eden Hazard vs England defence

Eden Hazard was at his destructive best

Yes, you got that right. Deployed at left wing with the armband on, Hazard always enjoys a free role, finds his best suited moments from all parts of the final third and picks the smartest of passes from either flanks. Thus, its never Eden Hazard against a single player.

There is nothing this boy cannot do. Starting off with his passing, he always seems to play the finest tuned balls into various channels of the pitch. Each and every time he lifted his head up to find a teammate, you knew he would weigh his pass to perfection.

Next, his link-up with De Bruyne makes the duo almost unplayable. Their touch, ball control, drive and change of pace, coupled with the ability of setting up the other illustrates quality and tells us how clinical they can be.

The same partnership took center-stage when De Bruyne ran a large part of the pitch's length and created a chance, which was taken by the Chelsea winger. This created a huge sense of confusion among the opposition defenders and disorganized their shape.

Hazard exploited various channels of the pitch, driving infield and cutting inside, charging down the ground and taking on defenders with aplomb ease.

Last but not the least, the little magician capped off his stellar performance with a goal that put the game to bed. Not only was his finish clever, but also was his movement, which left the English defence stranded.