Jordan Pickford’s mistake gifts Belgium opening goal against England as Youri Tielemans punishes goalkeeper’s error that Rob Green labels as ‘horrible’
- The England goalkeeper was at fault for Belgium’s opening goal on Tuesday
- Jordan Pickford gifted Youri Tielemans a simple finish in the Wembley encounter
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Jordan Pickford gifted Belgium the opening goal in Tuesday’s friendly as the England goalkeeper made an unusual error when trying to play out from the back at Wembley.
The Everton shot-stopper is set to be England’s first-choice goalkeeper at the upcoming European Championship in Germany, but didn’t cover himself in glory as Youri Tielemans opened the scoring.
England went into the game seeking to avoid a second consecutive Wembley defeat when Pickford topped off a comical run of errors in the build-up to Belgium’s first goal.
A host of failed defensive clearances and scruffy tackles on the edge of England’s box forced him to make a dreadful pass into midfield that was intercepted by his Toffees team-mate Amadou Onana.
Pickford had taken up a position outside his area and left Onana with plenty of time to find Tielemans who found the bottom corner with a simple shot.
The Three Lions star had tried to make it back across his goal while England’s defenders struggled to regain ground following the error.
The Belgian star celebrated emphatically as Pickford was left red-faced following his mistake that left England chasing the match.
Former England goalkeeper Robert Green described Pickford’s attempted pass as a ‘horrible strike’ and praised Tielemans for being smart with his finish back across goal.
‘He raises his hand in acknowledgment and it’s a gift. Pickford showed himself, tried to play an extravagant pass, there is nothing on.
‘It’s a horrible strike that’s all it is, nothing more to it. It’s a clever finish, he knows Pickford will be desperate dashing back across his goal,’ he said.
Former England and Chelsea star similarly praised Tielemans’ finish but slammed England’s start to the game, adding: ‘Lovely touch from Onana, very clever from Tielemans, he knows Pickford is desperately going to his far post and he drags it with his left-foot into the bottom corner.
‘England were all over the shop in the first 10 minutes. Very poor start from England,’ he said.
