Netherlands scored twice within the closing minutes via Cody Gakpo and substitute Davy Klaassen to beat Senegal 2-0 of their World Cup Group A match at Al Thumama Stadium on Monday.
The Dutch, who missed out on the 2018 World Cup, appeared to be heading for a scrappy goalless draw after losing a number of probabilities however man-of-the-match Gakpo beat goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to nod in Frenkie De Jong’s cross with the again of his head.
Klaassen then pounced on a weak Mendy save to attain on the rebound 9 minutes into stoppage time.
The Dutch be a part of Ecuador, 2-0 winners over hosts Qatar on Sunday, on three factors, with the highest two assembly on Friday.
“It was a tough recreation and we weren’t cautious with the ball,” mentioned Gakpo. “I feel we will do quite a bit higher however the victory clearly provides us feeling.”
“We have been clearly searching for a purpose and finally we received it,” he mentioned.
The 23-year-old, who has now scored thrice in his final 4 internationals, had their first alternative after 4 minutes however tried to sq. the ball to Steven Bergwijn as an alternative of going for purpose.
That was adopted by a Daley Blind header on the far put up that flew huge earlier than Steven Berghuis despatched Bergwijn via and he laid the ball off for the unmarked De Jong within the field.
The midfielder took far too lengthy to launch the ball, nonetheless, and his effort was blocked.
The African champions have been badly lacking injured talisman Sadio Mane and didn’t handle a shot heading in the right direction till the sixty fifth minute when Boulaye Dia tried to sneak one previous goalkeeper Andries Noppert, making his Dutch debut, from a decent angle.
Senegal had a bit extra possession within the second half however regardless of the relentless drumming from their small fan group within the stands they may not discover the again of the web.
To make issues worse, Cheikhou Kouyate needed to be taken off injured earlier than Gakpo sneaked in to grab the opening purpose.
Klaassen made positive of the factors with a tap-in in stoppage time after Mendy palmed a Memphis Depay shot into his path.
The Dutch at the moment are undefeated in 16 matches below coach Louis van Gaal. Additionally they stretched an unbeaten report of their opening recreation at World Cups that dates again to 1938.
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