It was hoped for a goal feast in the Rotterdam Kuip, but the Dutch national team did not get further than three goals against Gibraltar. For the Orange, where only one Ajax player was in the starting line-up, Memphis Depay and Nathan Aké were accurate (twice): 3-0.
National coach Ronald Koeman had compared to the ignominious 4-0 defeat to France, this time no base place for Ajax players Jurriën Timber and Kenneth Taylor. Steven Berghuis, on the other hand, was allowed to remain standing by the national coach and Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord made his debut.
In connection with the negative goal difference, the Netherlands had already announced in advance that it wanted to score as many goals as possible against the football dwarf. In the first half, the Netherlands mainly tried to achieve goal attempts via crosses from the side. The Dutch scored a total of 24 crosses in the first company and one of them was ultimately successful. In the 23rd minute, Denzel Dumfries managed to find Depay’s head from the right side, who thus signed for the meager 1-0 halftime score.
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At the start of the second half, Koeman brought in Donyell Malen in addition to Cody Gakpo. Wieringen’s attacker replaced Berghuis and so there was not a single Ajax player on the field at that time. Bringing in Gakpo and Malen improved the pace of the ball for a while and the 2-0 of the Dutch team soon followed. A cross from Gakpo ended up with Nathan Aké via Dumfries. The left back hit the inside of the post.
Shower prematurely
Immediately after Aké’s goal, Gibraltar, the number 200 in the world ranking, had to continue with ten men. Liam Walker had to take a shower early after a rough charge on Wieffer’s ankle. Not much later, Wieffer was replaced by Davy Klaassen, who was allowed to play for the Orange for another half hour. With the Hilversummer in the team, the Netherlands managed to pass goalkeeper of Gibraltar one more time. A deflected shot from Aké eventually meant the 3-0 final score.
Because of the victory, the Netherlands is now in third place in the European Championship qualifying group with three points. France, who won 1-0 on a visit to Ireland tonight, takes the lead. Greece is number two.
Lineup Netherlands: Cillessen; Dumfries, De Ligt (Malacia/77), Van Dijk, Ake; Wijnaldum (Gakpo/46), Wieffer (Klaassen/63), Depay (Blind/63); Simons, Weghorst, Berghuis (Malen/46)
