Netherlands 3-0 Gibraltar: After the blunder against France, the Netherlands has booked a business victory at Gibraltar. A goal from Memphis Depay and two hits from Nathan Aké gave the Orange the victory.
The Orange does not dispel doubts with a poor performance against Gibraltar
In the opening phase it turned out that the Orange did indeed try to become dangerous through the cross. The backs dived over it several times and Wout Weghorst’s head was searched in vain for the goal. Only after a quarter of a game did the Netherlands manage to open the score against Gibraltar. That did not happen entirely by chance, after all, from a cross.
Denzel Dumfries was still missing against France due to a suspension, but on Monday he once again showed why he is one of the key players for this Dutch national team. Dumfries came through on the right flank and found Memphis’ head with his cross. He beat the misty goalkeeper and scored his 44th international goal for the Dutch national team. As a result, he only needs six more goals to match Robin van Persie’s goalscoring record for the Orange.
Still, the Netherlands went into the dressing room with a bitter feeling. With some crosses, Weghorst, among others, became dangerous a number of times, but with the break it was ‘only’ 1-0. What was striking was the performance of debutant Mats Wieffer. He started in the starting line-up and made 93 passes in the first half, 85 of which landed. In comparison, that’s more than all Gibraltar players put together and about 46 passes more than all of his teammates.
Second half
After the break, Dumfries and Wieffer again took the spotlight. Five minutes after the break, the right back gave his second assist of the evening. At the far post, Dumfries again placed a cross in front of the goal and Nathan Aké was ready to head in the 2-0.
A minute later, Gibraltar also had to continue with ten men. Wieffer won his duel against Liam Walker, who then stood ugly on the Feyenoord player’s ankle. Although Wieffer was able to continue, his debut match was over ten minutes later. He was replaced by Daley Blind. Where Gibraltar already dug in with eleven men, it certainly didn’t get rid of its own half after the red card.
The Orange was forced to look for goals, but ended that search with another goal from Aké. He saw a deflected long shot bounce fortunately in. After the 4-0 defeat against France, Koeman’s men got no further than a 3-0 win over Gibraltar.
