The Netherlands reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship for the first time since 2008, with Donyell Malen scoring twice in a 3-0 last-16 win over Romania on Tuesday. Cody Gakpo gave the Dutch an early lead but they were unable to convert the pressure into a crucial second goal until the Liverpool striker set up Malen seven minutes from time in Munich. Romania were brave, but inferior, without the quality to punish their opponent’s wastefulness, before Malen scored the second on the counterattack in stoppage time. The victory put the Netherlands on track for a quarter-final clash with either Turkey or Austria, who defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in the group stage.
“We played a good game. I’m very satisfied. Especially after the last game, we needed a reaction and today was a good step in the right direction,” said Gakpo.
“We talked a lot about aggression, intensity and team defense. It was a good step.
“Sacrifice something for each other and work hard to be at your best. Good game overall.”
Ronald Koeman’s team will have to improve their effectiveness in goal if they hope to emulate their coach, who was a Dutch player when they won the 1988 Euro on German soil.
Before the game, Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said his team lacked energy and “will to win” in their defeat to Austria.
But the Dutch were still strangely stagnant in the early stages, despite Van Dijk’s rallying cry.
Group E winners Romania, whose 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their opening game was only their second Euro win, defeated the Dutch earlier.
Romania came close when Dennis Man latched onto an excellent diagonal ball from Nicolae Stanciu, but the Parma winger shot over.
The Dutch broke Romania’s momentum shortly afterwards, when Gakpo, in the 20th minute, took advantage of a good move to open the scoring.
Jerdy Schouten played a long, perfect pass through midfield to Xavi Simons, who found Gakpo on the left flank.
Gakpo escaped Andrei Ratiu and appeared to catch goalkeeper Florin Nita off guard, firing at the near post.
The goal began a period of Dutch dominance, with Stefan de Vrij heading wide five minutes later.
The Netherlands wasted a perfect opportunity to extend their lead as half-time approached when Denzel Dumfries picked up Bogdan Racovitan’s pocket and found Simons, who got tangled up and failed to get a decent shot.
Koeman’s team wasted several opportunities at the beginning of the second half.
Memphis Depay and van Dijk came agonizingly close before Gakpo’s second goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.
With each wasted opportunity, the nerves in the Dutch group seemed to increase, but Romania did not have the quality to truly punish them.
Gakpo, the most impressive man in orange, took matters into his own hands with seven minutes remaining, dribbling through a crowded area and finding Malen, who tapped home.
“We work hard together to do our best and I’m happy to have helped Donnie with his goal today,” Gakpo said.
With Romania launching a final attack, Malen advanced on the counterattack and slid the ball home four minutes into stoppage time to seal the victory.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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