The Netherlands have secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the European Championship with a convincing 3-0 victory over Romania in the last 16 match on Tuesday.
Donyell Malen was the star of the show, scoring twice in the second half to seal the win.
Cody Gakpo gave the Dutch an early lead, but it wasn’t until the 83rd minute that they managed to double their advantage.
Malen set up his teammate with a precise pass, and he made no mistake to put his team two goals up.
The Liverpool forward then added his second goal in stoppage time, capitalizing on a counter-attack to wrap up the win.
Romania, despite their gritty performance, were ultimately outclassed by their opponents. They lacked the quality to punish the Dutch’s mistakes and were unable to find a way back into the game.
The victory sets up a quarter-final clash with either Turkey or Austria, who defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in the group stage.
Gakpo credited his team’s improvement in aggression and intensity for their success, saying, “We played a good game. I’m very pleased. Especially after the last game we needed a reaction and today was a good step in the right direction.”
The Netherlands will need to improve their finishing in front of goal if they are to go all the way and emulate their manager Ronald Koeman, who was a player when the Dutch won the European Championship on German soil back in 1988.
