Gakpo and Malen propel Netherlands to Euro 2024 quarterfinals

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BERLIN, July 3, (Xinhua): Cody Gakpo’s opener and two late goals from Donyell Malen helped the Dutchmen to ease past Romania 3-0 into the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Romania started highly motivated and created a notable chance early on, with Dennis Man’s shot from the edge of the box going just wide in the 14th minute.

Six minutes later, the Dutch punished Romania’s wastefulness as Xavi Simons found Gakpo on the left wing. The Liverpool striker cut inside the box before unleashing a well-placed shot into the near-post corner, marking his third goal of the tournament.

The Netherlands gained momentum but failed to add another goal before the break, with Stefan de Vrij heading into the side netting from a tight angle.
Ronald Koeman’s men started the second half strongly, with Memphis Depay unable to beat Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita from close range in the 54th minute, and Virgil van Dijk hitting the outside of the post four minutes later.

The Elftal continued to press, but Nita’s reflexes denied Gakpo from finishing off his solo run with a goal at the hour mark. Gakpo remained active, though his second goal was ruled offside.
Romania stayed on the back foot but was fortunate as the Netherlands remained wasteful with their promising opportunities.

The Netherlands eventually doubled their advantage in the 83rd minute when Gakpo’s build-up play allowed Malen to tap home into the empty net.
Malen wasn’t done scoring, as Simons released the Borussia Dortmund striker, who fired past Nita to seal the quarterfinal clash with Turkiye at Berlin’s Olympia Stadium on Saturday.
“Today the start was hard, but we eventually found our game and caused them problems. Maybe one critical point was that it took too long to score the second goal. We caused Romania big problems with our attacking,” said the Netherlands coach Koeman.

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