Republic of Ireland challenged the Netherlands in a match that decided the scenarios of group B.
Aviva Stadium hosted the match as both National Teams needed a win to hope for qualification tickets and at the same time challenge Greece for second place.
Ireland came very motivated for this challenge and wanted a second place as a reward for the group and the squad they had.
The game started well for Ireland as they had a chance with Ogbene, who shot, but his shot is blocked. It is the second minute and Ireland has a penalty. Virgil Van Dijk claims that he did not touch the ball with his hand, but the decision is a penalty.
The first goal
Adam Idah defeats Mark Flekken and sends the crowd into delirium in the 4th minute. This was a huge moment for the home side.
This was a huge step for Ireland as they wanted to press higher and not allow the Netherlands to create from the back. Netherlands had more ball possession and sought to start from the midfield.
Doherty crossed a ball in the 13th minute, but his ball was deflected in a corner. The Irish team had a chance with the corner as the defenders were in the opposition’s box.
Van Dijk, Ake, and De Light had a difficult match as they needed to defend tight. Netherlands wins a penalty as Dumfries is tackled in the zone.
Gakpo takes aim and scores in the 19th minute to bring the equalizer for Netherlands. Judged by the performance on the pitch, the equalizer was the right result.
De Jong is a key player for the Netherlands as he keeps the ball and also connects the defense with the attack. Maleen has a chance in the 25th as he shoots powerfully in the zone, but Gavin Bazunu says no.
Ireland are on the attack
Ireland responds with Knight, who shoots but his attempt is blocked in the 27th. The Dutch side was suffering the pressure from Ireland as they needed to make some changes in their game. Brownie had a chance in the 33rd but his shot went wide.
Stephen Kenny motivated his team to be more present in the opposition box. The Netherlands tried with Dumfries tries to threaten the target with a header.
Ireland tried to recuperate something from the early beginning and the Netherlands was the team, that wanted to strike again. The first half ended with two teams attacking and finding one goal each.
At the beginning of the second half Netherlands made two subs, Daley Blind and Mats Weiffer were replaced by Tijjani Reinders and Wout Weighorst.
The Dutch team continued to attack and were all over the place in the second half. But Ireland responded with a free kick. Brownie crossed into the zone in the 53rd, but his ball was intercepted.
Wough Weghorst scored in the 56th after a pass from Dumfries and sent Netherlands for the first time ahead.
Netherlands wanted to find the third goal insisting with Dumfries on the right wing, but Ireland’s defense closed without problems.
Kenny replaced McClean with Manning to bring fresh legs and change things for Ireland.
On the other side, Malen was out in the 68th for Teun Koopmeiners and the Netherlands had the chance to attack more and secure the game.
The last 25 minutes
Ireland made two other subs in the 74th. Jamie McGrath was on the pitch for John Egan. Also, William Smallbone would have important minutes for Adam Browne out. Ireland created from the back and tried to find spaces in the midfield.
Both teams played with three and this made the sides express themselves and want to exploit the spaces with fast solo runs.
Cody Gakpo was replaced by Noa Lang in the 82nd and the Oranje had something to defend in the final minutes.
Duffy did not allow Lang to score in the 85th and this was the perfect chance for the Dutch team to finish with a secure advantage.
Ebosele was in for Knight and Ireland hoped to find something in the final minutes. But the result was very difficult to overcome and the game was tactically closed.
Xavi Simmons was for Steven Berghius and the attack of Ronald Koeman won some minutes at the end of the match.
The match was closed with the Netherlands which took a decisive win and decided the fates of the group.