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Wout Weghorst came off the bench to grab the winner as the Netherlands opened their Euro 2024 campaign with a hard-fought win over Poland in Hamburg.
Former Manchester United striker Weghorst swept home Nathan Ake’s ball with seven minutes to go as the Dutch finally got their reward for an enterprising display that ought to have seen them win by a greater margin.
Poland battled hard but failed to build on the 16th-minte advantage given to them by Adam Buksa, who started in place of the injured Robert Lewandowski.
Cody Gakpo equalised with a deflected shot but it looked like Ronald Koeman’s men would have to settle for a point after squandering a host of chances before Weghorst, who netted twice after coming on as a substitute against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, proved the match winner.
THREE POINTS! ❤️🔥#NothingLikeOranje #POLNED pic.twitter.com/q5FoHQFtas
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) June 16, 2024
Netherlands boss opening 45 minutes
The Dutch dominated the first half but a combination of poor finishing and some fine goalkeeping from Wojciech Szczesny frustrated their efforts to claim a half-time lead.
The onslaught started early with Gakpo seeing a shot saved by Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny at his near post inside two minutes.
Tijjani Reijnders then shot wide when well placed after being picked out by Jerdy Schouten.
Having spent the opening quarter of an hour on the back foot, Poland promptly went forward and opened the scoring from their first opportunity, Buksa glancing in Piotr Zielinski’s left-wing corner.
Virgil van Dijk almost equalised four minutes later with a snapshot volley while Memphis Depay ought to have done better than lash wildly over the top when well placed shortly after.
Koeman’s men were on top and it was no surprise when the leveller finally came after 29 minutes. Ake won the ball in the centre of the field before Gakpo took over, ran at the Poland defence and unleashed a low drive that clipped Bartosz Salamon…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/poland-1-2-netherlands-match-report/
Author : Jon Fisher
Publish date : 2024-06-16 14:56:44
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