Europe

Early goals by Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens earned Belgium a comfortable 2-0 victory over England as they strengthened their grip on top spot in Nations League Group A2 in Leuven on Sunday.

England needed a win to put themselves back in the frame for a place in the Nations League finals, but Gareth Southgate's side found themselves chasing the game after Tielemans put the hosts in front after 10 minutes.

Así entraba el primero para Bélgica

Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum scored two early goals to set them on their way to a 3-1 victory over Bosnia in their Nations League clash on Sunday, a first win for the Dutch under new coach Frank de Boer.

Wijnaldum, who has taken over as Dutch skipper from injured Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk, opened the scoring after six minutes and put the home side 2-0 up in the 13th at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

It took 85 minutes of play that left very little to the imagination, but Sunday’s FA WSL clash between Arsenal and Chelsea roared into life at the death as Beth Mead’s potential winner was cancelled out by Lotte Wubben-Moy’s 90th-minute own goal. 

Sam Kerr still had the opportunity to win it for Chelsea in stoppage time, but her lob drifted wide to spare Arsenal keeper Manuela Zinsberger any further embarrassment. 

Wales assistant manager Robert Page said Gareth Bale is back in love with soccer, having rejoined Tottenham Hotspur following a tough period at Real Madrid, and that could help the forward shine for the national team.

Manchester United may not have the resources that some of their Premier League rivals do but the fallen giants of English soccer still possess the mentality to end their title drought in the competition, midfielder Bruno Fernandes said.

BASEL, Switzerland — Spain forward Gerard Moreno came off the bench to snatch a 1-1 draw away to Switzerland in the Nations League on Saturday after Sergio Ramos had missed two penalties.

Ramos, who also became the most capped European player of all time, had scored all of his previous 25 penalties but was thwarted when Yann Sommer guessed the right way and repelled his spot kick in the 58th minute to preserve his side's lead.

LISBON — France handed defending Nations League champions Portugal a rare defeat on Saturday, winning 1-0 in Lisbon with N'Golo Kante's second-half strike to reach the competition's final four at the expense of the holders.

Kante scored only his second France goal in the 54th minute to leave them top of League A Group 3 with 13 points from five games, three ahead of Portugal and with the better head-to-head record to give themselves an unassailable lead.

Two months after her move was first announced, Alex Morgan finally made her first start for Tottenham Hotspurs on Saturday against Bristol City, a week after her Spurs debut. Unfortunately for the American superstar, her first start didn’t last long.

Derby County have parted ways with manager Phillip Cocu after a disappointing start to the season, the Championship (second-tier) club said on Saturday.

Former Dutch international Cocu took charge of Derby last year following the departure of Frank Lampard and guided the club to a 10th-place finish.

But Derby have won just once in 11 Championship games this season and sit bottom of the table with six points.

AMSTERDAM — Netherlands coach Frank de Boer and his key striker Memphis Depay both insisted there was no alarm over the lack of goals from the Dutch team ahead of Sunday’s key Nations League tie against Bosnia in Amsterdam.

The Netherlands have netted only three goals in six internationals this year but Depay said the goals were certain to return.

“They will return, I have full confidence in that,” he told a news conference on Saturday.