Hazard, Batshuayi score in easy Belgium win; Jorginho opens account for Italy

A productive Friday night for several Chelsea players, as Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi, and Jorginho all celebrated goals for their respective national teams. Michy got to do it twice in fact, one of which was set up by Hazard.

So a goal and an assist for Belgium’s captain, who could yet be named Chelsea captain in the coming week as well. Batshuayi would add two late goals while former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku was also on the scoresheet as Belgium easily swept aside Scotland in Glasgow. The home side managed to keep it close in the first-half, losing just 1-0 at the break, but then the floodgates opened, as Hazard almost took Craig Gordon’s head off with a shot inside of 60 seconds of the restart and Michy grabbed his brace not 15 minutes later. Not much of a chance for Scotland in this one.

In a slightly less friendly and decidedly more even encounter, Italy scraped a 1-1 draw against Poland on Friday as well in their opening game of the UEFA Nations League. The visitors took the lead, Lewandowski turning provider for Zielinski just before the half, but a typical Jorginho hop-penalty ensured a share of the spoils for the Azzurri. It was Jorginho’s first goal for his adopted country.

Davide Zappacosta also played the full game, but Emerson did not get to make his debut. In the Belgium match, Hazard was removed before the hour-mark, so at least he got a few minutes of rest.

Most importantly, no one seems to have picked up any injuries, so it was indeed a good day.