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Three captivating sets of clashes at the FIH Men's Pro League 2020 have involved a shootout each - and, one outright result in each of the double-headers with the winner of the shootout also picking up full points for the outright win in all three cases.
In the Pro League opener, the Indians thrashed Holland 5-2 in the first match and won the shootout in the next encounter getting their campaign off to a flying start.
In the second weekend of the competition, Germany beat Spain in a shootout before winning their second match by a 5-1 margin while Belgium won their shootout against arch-rivals Australia before beating the kookaburras by a 4-2 margin at Sydney.
Germany lead points table after taming Spain
The Spanish who won five shootouts in the 2019 edition of the Pro League, seem to have lost the magic touch a wee bit.
The Red Sticks had Germany on the mat, on Friday, and were leading 2-1 when Christopher Ruhr's 57th-minute goal took the first encounter into a shootout in which the Germans prevailed.
In the second encounter, on Saturday, the Spaniards fell apart completely allowing Germany to pick up full points, at Valencia, as a result of which the Germans head the points table with a goal-difference that is slightly superior to India.
Red Lions roar in Sydney
At the Sydney Olympic Park, on Saturday, an injured Blake Govers did not take the field for the Aussies while the Belgians fielded a full-strength squad.
Belgium had more of the ball early on but failed to make it count as Colin Batch's team looked to hit the World Champions on the counter. Thomas Briels opened the scoring early in the second quarter and the Belgians held on to the one-goal lead until the end of the third quarter.
Lachlan Sharp was brought down in an ugly fashion by Emmanuel Stockbroekx and Tom Craig converted the resultant penalty stroke in the 51st minute - just a couple of minutes after Jeremy Hayward had restored parity with the Aussies appeared to have turned the tide with a 2-1 lead.
Tim Brand then received a yellow card for flicking his outstretched stick at Loick Luypaert. In spite of being down to ten men, Jake Whetton very nearly sealed the deal for Australia but Tom Wickham failed to latch on to the delectable cross at the far post.
With a minute left for the end of regulation time, Felix Denayer deflected one in after some sustained pressure from the Belgians to make it 2-2, and Vincent Vanasch displayed his class in the shootout with the Belgians picking up a bonus point for the shootout win.
As a result of the victory, the World and European champions who had lost the numero uno slot to Australia after losing the 2019 Pro League final have regained their place as the top-ranked team as per the FIH World Rankings.
In the second encounter, on Sunday, the newly-crowed world no. 1 side dominated the second encounter.
Belgium outplay Australia in the second match
For the Aussies, Tyler Lovell replaced Andrew Charter in goal while Alexander Hendricks continued from where he left off last year - the man who scored the highest number of PC goals along with Blake Govers in the 2019 Pro League gave Belgium the lead in the 13th minute.
A Belgian referral for a ball hitting the body of an Aussie player resulted in yet another PC and Hendricks beat Lovell who was foxed by an inadvertent deflection off an Aussie stick.
The 25th-minute drag flick had come off the stick of Lachlan Sharp who made amends midway through the second quarter with a monster strike from the edge of the circle that reduced the deficit for the Aussies.
With just over five minutes left for the end of regulation time, the Belgians looked happy to knock the ball around but surged forward in a flash with Dockier hitting the post.
The Australians failed to keep the Belgian strikers at bay and Max Plannevaux's 56th-minute goal left Colin Batch's team with no option but to adopt an all-or-nothing approach.
A counter-attack led by Thomas Briels led to Emmanuel Stockbroekx taking a tumble as he scored Belgium's fourth goal with a fantastic diving finish with Jeremy Hayward scored a last-minute consolation goal for the Australians.
The match never reached a pace that could be described as frenetic with a string of vertical passes and a change of flanks dominating the proceedings. The intensity, however, was electric, and in the end, it was a well-deserved win for the incredible Red Lions who will be hosted by India on February 8 and 9.
Germany, India, and Belgium have five points each from two matches while the Netherlands, Australia, and Spain have a lone point each from just as many matches.
