The the Dutch squad won a difficult victory against Latvia in the World Cup qualifying series on Friday evening. Louis van Gaal’s team took the lead early in the game thanks to a volley from Davy Klaassen and failed to add goals: 0-1. Noa Lang made his debut for the Dutch national team in the second half. Thanks to the important win, the leader of the the Dutch squad in Group G is two points ahead of pursuer Norway, which drew in Turkey (1-1).
Van Gaal chose to replace the suspended Georginio Wijnaldum with Guus Til, who made his basic debut for the the Dutch squad. Cody Gakpo also joined the team as a left winger instead of Steven Bergwijn, who started there against Turkey (6-1). Davy Klaassen appeared free in front of Latvia’s goal in the third minute after a hard pass from Memphis Depay, but his assumption was bad. A corner by Depay gave the Dutch the opening goal after nineteen minutes. The ball was suddenly completed by Klaassen: 0-1.
GOAL – Davy Klaassen beautifully completes the 0-1 against the Latvians, after a sharp corner kick by Memphis Depay.#letned pic.twitter.com/THMzvMp17Z
— NOS Football (@NOS Football) October 8, 2021
For example, there seemed to be no problem for the Netherlands, which subsequently saw Latvia come close to a goal twice. First Virgil van Dijk led in a dangerous counter with a wrong pass. In the end, the defender blocked Andrejs Ciganiks’ shot, after which Roberts killed Uldrikis in the rebound, by shooting wide through Klaassen’s block. Uldrikis had another big chance a few minutes later and this time saw Daley Blind intervene with a block at the last minute. In the final phase of the first half, Gakpo headed just wide from a good cross by Denzel Dumfries.
In the opening phase after the break, the Netherlands failed to create huge opportunities. Shots from Berghuis and Depay went just wide, while Gakpo headed over after a cross from Blind. After more than an hour of play, Van Gaal brought in Ryan Gravenberch and debutant Lang for Til and Berghuis. Shortly after his entrance into the crowded penalty area, Lang was able to tap through to Depay, who was put under pressure about five meters too much to produce an effective shot.
the Dutch crawls through the eye of the needle in injury time. Justin Bijlow saves at a crucial moment and seems to secure the three points for the the Dutch.#letned pic.twitter.com/5c4gquq0vX
— NOS Football (@NOS Football) October 8, 2021
Free large shooting opportunities came fifteen minutes before time for Lang and Gravenberch, who shot at a Latvian block from close behind. Substitute Wout Weghorst then shot from sixteen meters right next to the intersection. In the final phase, Latvia became dangerous through a corner. A shot from the turn of Igors Tarasovs was cleverly tapped out of the corner by Justin Bijlow, who dragged the victory for the the Dutch out of the fire.