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. “I try to lead by example for the younger players, and they follow easily,” said De Bruyne. “I feel I can still contribute. I am enjoying myself, and that is the main thing.

” 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. “Kevin De Bruyne always wants to play,” Belgium coach Mark van Bommel said. “Italy, France, today. He is in a really good groove. He is radiating joy, and you can see that in the goals he is scoring. “I am very pleased with the 3-0 win. We were sloppy in possession now and then and gave the opposition the feeling they could create chances. “It went back and forth, and we were not controlled enough in those phases. We kept them in the match for a long time, though I never felt we were in danger of losing. ” 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…