Around the Premier League: International Break Edition

Story posted March 31, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Ben Palillo

With the international break for international qualifiers, the Premier League had no matches scheduled for this past week. However, this halt in matchplay allowed the Premier League’s top players to show their skills on an international level.

Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City representing Belgium, Mohamed Salah of Liverpool representing Egypt and Nathan Aké of Manchester City representing the Netherlands were among the top performers.

Let’s dive into these top international performances from soccer.

Kevin De Bruyne’s Three-Goal Contributions Lifts Belgium over Germany

In a matchup full of stars, it was the Belgium midfielder that shined the brightest.

Belgium got the scoring started early as in the sixth minute, De Bruyne sent a long pass to an unmarked Yannick Carrasco, who blasted it past Marc-André ter Stegen.

Three minutes later, Belgium struck again. De Bruyne sent a through ball to Romelu Lukaku, who curled a shot around ter Stegen to make it 2-0.

Germany then cut the deficit to one as Niclas Füllkrug slotted in a penalty in the 43rd minute.

In the 78th minute, De Bruyne returned a two-goal lead to Belgium. Leandro Trossard made a magnificent run down the left wing before dishing it to De Bruynee, who placed a left-foot shot into the bottom right corner.

Despite an 87th-minute goal from Serge Gnabry, Belgium managed to hold on for a 3-2 victory as they beat Germany for the first time since 1954.

Nathan Aké Scores Twice as the Netherlands Defeats Gibraltar

The Netherlands hosted Gibraltar as each side looked to grab their first points of the qualifiers.

Memphis Depay was involved in the offense from the opening kick, and in the 23rd minute, his hard work got rewarded. Denzel Dumfries sent a cross into the box that Depay headed in to make it 1-0 Netherlands.

The Dutch kept up the offensive pressure, and in the 50th minute, Aké struck a header off the post and in to make it 2-0.

One minute later, Liam Walker got sent off due to a studs-up tackle, and Gibraltar was left down a man.
The Manchester City defenseman got his second of the game in the 82nd minute when his shot from just outside the box deflected off John Sergeant and went in to make it 3-0 Netherlands.

The Dutch would do their best to get a fourth but struggled to find the frame of the goal.

Mohamed Salah’s Strike Leads Egypt over Malawi

Egypt hosted Malawi in a 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifier.

Egypt had some excellent scoring chances early, and in the 20th minute, Salah struck.

Salah sent a long pass to the left wing before receiving the pass back in the box and blasting it in to make it 1-0 Egypt.

In the 45th minute, Omar Marmoush sent a shot that deflected off a defender and in to make it 2-0 Egypt, and they held on to grab a crucial three points.

Egypt remains tied with Guinea at the top of the group.


Ben Palillo is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.