the Dutch is working on goal difference thanks to Depay, Wijnaldum and Gakpo

Saturday, September 4, 2021 at 10:33 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 22:35

The Dutch national team made no mistake on Saturday in the battle for qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Louis van Gaal’s team convincingly dealt with Montenegro in the Philips Stadium: 4-0. The the Dutch squad was launched by Memphis Depay, who scored the first two goals. Georginio Wijnaldum and Cody Gakpo made the remaining goals. It was a much-needed victory, as competitors Norway (0-2 against Latvia) and Turkey (0-3 against Gibraltar) also won. The Netherlands is second in the group, with one point less than the Turks.

Tyrell Malacia made his debut as a left back for the Dutch national team. The Feyenoord player replaced the suspended Daley Blind. Denzel Dumfries and Matthijs de Ligt also joined the team for Jurriën Timber and Virgil van Dijk. The first good shooting opportunity was for Depay, who shot hard at goalkeeper Matija Sarkic after a cross from Dumfries. The ensuing corner kick barely managed to get Montenegro out of the scrimmage.

Then things started to go better for the the Dutch and the chances followed each other at a faster pace. Davy Klaassen shot over after a good low pass from Steven Berghuis, while Depay failed to slide in a cracked shot from Berghuis. Klaassen came even closer moments later with a header on the crossbar after a cross by Cody Gakpo. The match was broken open by Depay, who characteristically turned away from Dusan Lagator and was put down. Depay fired the ensuing penalty into the right corner: 1-0.

The the Dutch did not start strongly in the second half and gave away two chances to Montegro. Milutin Osmajic first produced a roller after Wijnaldum’s sloppy loss of the ball. Moments later, Malacia just played the ball in the feet of Stefan Mugosa, who, to the great relief of the left back of the Dutch, kicked wildly over the empty goal. The Netherlands also became sparingly threatening, for example via a shot by Berghuis that was tapped just wide by Sarkic. After just over an hour of play, Depay knew what to do with a shooting opportunity from the left side of the penalty area. The striker placed the ball hard in the short corner: 2-0.

The defense of the Netherlands remained shaky when Stefan de Vrij also initiated a threatening situation with too short a pass back, which could be solved by Justin Bijlow. On the other side of the field, the the Dutch showed itself effectively. Berghuis sent a smart cross ball to Wijnaldum, who shot in in complete freedom: 3-0. Gakpo also shared in the celebration, by sending the ball beautifully from the left tip of the penalty area towards the far corner moments later: 4-0. It was the first goal of the PSV player in the Dutch.