Belgium’s De Bruyne fires double to sink Turkey, France held by Italy

Kevin De Bruyne scored twice as Belgium beat Turkey 3-0, while France were held 1-1 by Italy in the Nations League on Friday.

Napoli midfielder De Bruyne, in his 127th match for the Belgians, scored the opening goal, playing a nice one-two with Dodi Lukebakio before a cool finish from the edge of the box.

While Belgium looked threatening without creating many clear-cut chances, Turkey posed the greater attacking danger after De Bruyne’s opener.

But they had no reward for their efforts in the Belgian city of Liege.

Instead, De Bruyne claimed a second, curling a ball from the edge of the box past Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir into the top corner.

A third came from Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time record goalscorer, who had replaced Lukebakio.

A low cross from Charles De Ketelaere fell to Lukaku, who managed to skew the ball past Cakir from close range.

It was a third defeat in as many games for Turkey, while the result left Belgium one point adrift of Group A1 leaders France.

Zinedane Zidane’s French team took the lead through Michael Olise in the 55th minute.

But Alessandro Bastoni equalised to deny Zidane victory in his first home game in the dugout for France.

A two-match winning run comes to an end, too, after Les Bleus concede for the first time under the World Cup winner.

Veteran striker Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick as Poland thrashed Romania 6-0 in Group 4 of League B, which also saw Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sweden battle to a 1-1 draw.

Ciaron Brown scored twice as Northern Ireland beat Ukraine 3-0 on neutral territory in Trnava, Slovakia, while Hungary beat Georgia 1-0 in the other Group 2 match.

Earlier in League C, Cyprus beat Armenia 2-0 at home in Group 2, while Montenegro managed a 2-1 win over Latvia in Riga.

In Group 3 action, Moldova pipped Kazakhstan 2-1 in Astana, while the Faroe Islands snagged a 1-1 home draw with Slovakia.

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