Netherlands Humiliates Star-studded Belgium In Clutch UEFA Nations League Match

 Belgium opened their Nations League campaign with a humiliating derby loss to the Netherlands, who won 4-1 in Brussels on Friday.

Roberto Martinez's team was led by Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard, but they were unsuccessful from the start, with Lukaku being pulled off injured after 25 minutes and Hazard being substituted at half-time after his first start since January.

Steven Bergwijn, a Tottenham winger, was given a starting place in attack for the Dutch and returned Louis van Gaal's faith with a fine first goal from outside the box.

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For significant stretches of the first half, the Netherlands were comfortably ahead, barring a shot against the post by Timothy Castagne with the score at 0-0, but the Dutch dominance continued after the break.

Memphis Depay took advantage of a Dedryck Boyata blunder just a few minutes into the second half to rush clear and bury the game's second goal.

Daley Blind picked up a rebound from Simon Mignolet's parry on 62 minutes and cleverly crossed for Denzel Dumfries to bundle home at the far post.

Depay breached the line again just a few moments later to hammer home his second goal.

Boos rang around King Baudouin Stadium, and Belgium were denied a consolation goal when Michy Batshuayi was called offside before Castagne scored, with VAR siding with the hosts after saving a terrible judgement to give a penalty to the Leicester star for handball - when the ball had actually hit his face.

Michy Batshuayi added a late consolation, but the final whistle signaled not only a disastrous start to Belgium's Nations League campaign, but also a first Dutch victory against their neighbors since 1997.