Marouane Fellaini keeps dark horses Belgium in the race
Manchester United misfit comes off the bench to spark comeback win against Algeria
Manchester United misfit Marouane Fellaini came off the bench to inspire a dramatic Belgian fightback against Algeria on Tuesday as Marc Wilmots’ young side opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-1 win.
Fellaini, who endured a wretched season at United after his move from Everton, caused havoc among the Algerian defence when he came on as a second-half substitute, dragging his side back into the game with a towering header with 20 minutes to go.
At half-time the players were a bit down, but I said ‘don’t worry, we will score and we will change totally the match’. We were able to do that. My substitutes are very strong. We got a new momentum
Fellow substitute Dries Mertens fired home 10 minutes later after a pass from Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard to secure the three points for Belgium, tipped as dark horses to go all the way in Brazil.
After regularly netting in the English Premier League at Everton, the 26-year-old Fellaini failed to score once during his debut season at Old Trafford.
Yet all that was forgotten in the Brazilian sunlight at Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium when Fellaini deftly flicked a Kevin De Bruyne cross into the top of the net and cancel out playmaker Sofiane Feghouli’s 25th-minute penalty, Algeria’s first World Cup goal in 28 years.