The Netherlands secured a comfortable 3-0 victory in a Round of 16 match at Euro 2024 against Romania. Cody Gakpo opened the scoring for the Dutch in the 20th minute, while Donyell Malen doubled the lead in the 63rd minute. Malen added another goal in the third minute of stoppage time to seal the result.
The Netherlands thus eliminated one of the pleasant surprises of the competition and will face the winner of the Austria-Turkey clash in the quarterfinals.
In the 6th minute, Xavi Simons managed to break through and shoot at goal, but Florin Niță saved without much trouble.
In the 11th minute, the Dutch had a very good attack in which Memphis Depay found a gap and shot at Niță’s goal, but the Romanian goalkeeper made a crucial intervention.
Denis Man managed to seriously threaten the Dutch goal in the 14th minute. He overcame several opponents and made a very dangerous shot into the top right corner, but the ball went inches wide.
Just 6 minutes later Cody Gakpo opened the scoring. Xavi Simons passed to Gakpo, who handled Andrei Radu well and beat Niță’s goal.
In the 26th minute, the Dutch came very close to scoring another goal! From a corner kick, Memphis Depay found Stefan de Vrij, who directed the ball towards the near left corner. However, the ball tangled off the outside of the net.
In the 31st minute, Denzel Dumfries passed to Depay, who had a great chance to score as he was just a few yards from goal. But Radu Drăgușin made a fantastic tackle to clear the ball.
A minute before the end of the first half, the Dutch were again close to scoring. Denzel Dumfries passed to Xavi Simons, but he hesitated and his shot went past the goal.
In the 53rd minute, the Romanians were very lucky. Memphis Depay fired a dangerous shot, but his ball was blocked. A scramble ensued in the Romanian penalty area, and after a few ricochets, Florin Niță easily collected the ball.
The Netherlands missed a great chance in the 58th minute. From a corner kick, Virgil van Dijk rose above everyone and headed the ball, but hit the left post.
In the 63rd minute, a goal for the “tulips” was disallowed. From a corner kick, Jerdy Schouten managed to return the ball into the penalty area, and it found Cody Gakpo, who again hit the target, but after VAR intervention it turned out that Gakpo was offside and so his goal had to be disallowed.
In the 73rd minute, the Netherlands were again close to scoring when Joey Veerman found himself alone against Niță, but his shot went inches wide of the Romanian goal.
In the 83rd minute, Donyell Malen scored the second goal for the “tulips”. The Romanians made a few mistakes after a Netherlands touch, and Memphis Depay passed to Gakpo, who broke through and found Donyell Malen, who scored without any problems.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Xavi Simons passed to Donyell Malen. He then made a significant advance and found himself in a shooting position. Malen did not hesitate to shoot and with a dagger-like strike made the final score 3-0.
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