Cody Gakpo provided a goal and assist as Netherlands beat Romania 3-0 to reach Quarter-Finals at UEFA Euro 2024.
Gakpo fired the Netherlands ahead in the 20th minute from Xavi Simons pass and almost got his second goal in the 62nd minute, yet his goal was disallowed for offside.
Substitute, Malen completed victory after he turned in Gakpo’s cutback pass in the 83rd minute to secure a first Quarter-Final appearance for the Dutch since 2008 in this competition.
Malen further affirmed the win with a 93rd minute strike on a counter-attack which found the bottom left corner.
Netherlands will now await Turkey in Berlin on Saturday 6 July at 9pm CEST (8pm UK Time), after Merih Demiral’s brace proved enough for the Turkish to beat Austria 2-1 despite Michael Gregoritsch’s consolatory goal for the Austrians.
Having scraped through as one of four best third-placed group finishers, Netherlands enjoyed a solid start with their first shot coming in the sixth minute, courtesy of Simons but Florin Nita saved his shot.
Romania soon got themselves on top as the Dutch reverted their nervy performance as saw in their Group D loss to Austria, but Dennis Man could only curl a 14th minute shot over the bar.
Ronald Koeman’s Dutch subsequently woke up from their daze as Nathan Ake nodded wide from a 17th minute corner.
Netherlands three minutes later claimed the lead after Simons fed a pass forward for Gakpo to collect on the left, with the Liverpool forward free to cut in and rifle in past Nita at the near-left post.
Stefan de Vrij put a 27th minute header into the side-netting as Netherlands pressed for a second goal, but Romania dug deep defensively to keep their deficit to one goal at half-time despite a late injury-time rally with Ianis Hagi’s shot saved by Bart Verbruggen.
Netherlands however came back out with Steven Bergwijn off for Donyell Malen which saw them dominate early in the second half, with Tijjani Reijnders having put two shots wide whilst Memphis Depay and Malen saw shots deflected.
Romania however defended resiliently but conceded a second goal in the 62nd minute after Radu Dragusin’s clearance of a corner was cleared, yet recycled for Gakpo to poke in from close-range but the Dutchman was offside and his second goal was disallowed.
Netherlands continued to threaten but Depay, Joey Veerman and Simons wasted chances to wrap the game up, with 17 of their 18 shots in the opening 75 minutes evading the net in a wasteful display despite their dominant possession.
Any hopes of a late equaliser from Romania eventually were ended in the 83rd minute as Depay wrestled control of the ball in the far left corner with a dinky lob, which fell for Gakpo to cut back for Malen to smash in to secure the Dutch’s progress.
Malen further confirmed victory with a 93rd minute counter-attack which found the bottom left corner unmarked.
Teams
Romania – Florin Nita, Vasile Mogos (Racovitan 38′), Andrei Burca, Radu Dragusin, Andrei Ratiu, Marius Marin (Cicaldau 72′), Ianis Hagi (Alibec 72′), Nicolae Stanciu (Olaru 88′), Razvan Marin, Dennis Man, Denis Dragus (Mihaila 72′)
Substitutes: Denis Alibec, Daniel Birligea, Alexandru Cicaldau, Darius Olaru, Valentin Mihaila, Horatiu Moldovan, Ionut Nedelcearu, George Puscas, Bogdan Racovitan, Adrian Rus, Deian Sorescu, Stefan Tarnovanu, Adrian Sut
Netherlands – Bart Verbruggen, Nathan Ake (Van de Ven 69′), Virgil van Dijk, Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries, Tijjani Reijnders, Jerdy Schouten (Veerman 69′), Cody Gakpo (Weghorst 84′), Xavi Simons, Steven Bergwijn (Malen 46′), Memphis Depay (Blind 92′)
Substitutes: Brian Brobbey, Justin Bijlow, Daley Blind, Mark Flekken, Jeremie Frimpong, Lutsharel Geertruida, Ryan Gravenberch, Ian Maatsen, Donyell Malen, Joey Veerman, Wout Weghorst, Georginio Wijnaldum, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Light, Mickey van de Ven
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