England Women's hopes of UEFA Nations League glory and a spot in the 2024 Olympic Games suffered a crushing blow as they went down 3-2 to Belgium Women in a League A Group 1 clash overshadowed by a worrying injury to Alex Greenwood.
Chaos reigned supreme in the first half at Den Dreef, as Laura De Neve, Lucy Bronze, Fran Kirby and Tessa Wullaert treated supporters to a wonderful attacking spectacle, although a nasty clash of heads between Greenwood and Jassina Blom - in which the former came off far worse - led to a lengthy stoppage.
A handful of second-half chances then came and went for the Euro 2022 winners, who succumbed to Wullaert's second of the evening from the penalty spot as Belgium avenged their 1-0 loss at the King Power Stadium on Friday.
Four days on from their uninspiring win over the Red Flames, England fielded a near-identical team with only one change, as the fit-again Kirby demoted Ella Toone to the bench.
Due to their international commitments, none of Sarina Wiegman's Ballon d'Or nominees could attend Monday's ceremony - much to the chagrin of several players and fans - where Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps finished in the top five of the Ballon d'Or Feminin voting.
However, the Manchester United number one was caught out with just nine minutes on the clock on Tuesday, as Belgium centre-back De Neve lined up a free kick 25 yards from goal and expertly picked out the bottom corner, as Earps scrambled across the line to no avail.
The scoreline paled into insignificance only 10 minutes later, though, as England defender Greenwood and Belgium striker Blom were involved in a sickening head collision, which left both players on the floor for a few minutes.
A bandaged Blom eventually rose to her feet and gingerly walked off the field to undergo further assessment, while medics continued to tend to a stricken Greenwood, who was eventually hoisted onto the stretcher that had been lying by her side for several moments.
🫡 A true captain's performance from Tessa Wullaert 🎯💥#UWNL pic.twitter.com/NJodU1bQNM
— UEFA Women's Nations League (@WEURO) October 31, 2023
Belgium fans stood and applauded as Greenwood was carried off to be replaced by Jess Carter, while Blom was controversially given the green light to continue, but the hosts were then handed a concern with goalscorer De Neve, who went down inside her own penalty area and trudged off behind the goal.
With only 10 players on the field, Belgium were caught cold in the 38th minute, as Bronze got underneath Chloe Kelly's free kick and looped a header over Nicky Evrard into the side of the net to draw the Lionesses level.
De Neve would ultimately not return to the field and was replaced by Sarah Wijnants for Belgium, whose defence was cut open by a stunning Keira Walsh pass to Bronze in the 42nd minute, but the right-back's header was parried away by Evrard before Alessia Russo hit the side netting on the follow-up.
However, Russo's blushes were spared just two minutes later, as Walsh sprayed another sumptuous cross-field pass to Lauren Hemp, who cut inside from the left, surged beyond several red shirts and picked out Kirby to find the far corner with a delicate side-footed finish.
Fourteen extra minutes at the end of the first half offered Belgium ample time to add a twist to the tale, though, and the hosts did exactly that in the sixth minute of injury time, as Justine Vanhaevermaet threaded a perfectly-weighted through ball to Wullaert, who beat Carter and Millie Bright for pace before calmly finishing into the bottom corner for her 76th international goal.
A similarly open start to the second period saw both Kirby and Wullaert denied their second strikes of the evening by Evrard and Earps respectively, while Russo again fired wide of the mark in the 64th minute before being substituted.
Rachel Daly and Toone entered the fray for England as Wiegman also called time on Kirby's evening, while in the meantime, the Lionesses issued a reassuring update on Greenwood, who was confirmed to be conscious and talking with medical staff.
Daly was the beneficiary of another stunning delivery from Walsh in the 81st minute, but Evrard got down at her near post to palm the striker's header behind, and England's heads would drop further when Yana Daniels's cross hit the hand of Georgia Stanway inside the box.
Wullaert stepped up to the 12-yard mark as Earps sought to repeat her World Cup final heroics, but despite diving the right way, Wullaert's penalty was perfectly-placed into the side of the net as England shipped three goals in a game under Wiegman.
There would be no late response from the Lionesses, who drop below Belgium into third place in their Nations League section, one point below the Red Flames and three below group leaders the Netherlands owing to their 1-0 beating of Scotland.
England meet the Dutch in their penultimate Nations League group clash at Wembley on December 1 before a potentially pivotal final meeting with Scotland at Hampden Park on December 5.
Ben Knapton
