{"id":286741,"date":"2023-09-07T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T21:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=286741"},"modified":"2023-09-07T21:36:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T21:36:08","slug":"netherlands-3-0-greece-liverpools-cody-gakpo-strikes-in-routine-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/netherlands-3-0-greece-liverpools-cody-gakpo-strikes-in-routine-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Netherlands 3-0 Greece: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo strikes in routine win"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands made it two wins from three in Euro 2024 qualifying as they swept Greece aside in Eindhoven.<\/p>\n
Marten de Roon set the Oranje on their way after 17 minutes before Liverpool ace Cody Gakpo doubled the hosts’ advantage just after the half-hour mark.<\/p>\n
Eight minutes later the result was beyond doubt when former Man United\u00a0forward Wout Weghorst converted for 3-0.<\/p>\n
They now have six points, ahead of Greece on goal difference, behind leaders France who have won five out of five.<\/p>\n
The Dutch victory came after coach Koeman had challenged his team to show more of a steely edge after losing three of four games since he took charge at the start of the year.<\/p>\n
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De Roon scored the first goal after 17 minutes as he thumped home a ball headed down by Denzel Dumfries from a corner to register his first international goal.<\/p>\n
Gakpo was unmarked at the back post as the Greek defence was badly exposed and finished off a clever cross from Dumfries, who completed a hat-trick of assists as he provided Weghorst with a chipped cross to head home with a diving effort in the 39th minute.<\/p>\n
Netherlands<\/span>: Flekken, Geertruida, van Dijk, Ake, Dumfries, de Roon, de Jong, Blind, Simons, Gakpo, Weghorst.\u00a0<\/p>\n Subs: Hartman, Lang, Veerman, Noppert, Wieffer, Verbruggen, Berghuis, Reijnders, Malen, Koopmeiners, de Ligt, de Vrij.<\/p>\n Goals<\/span>: De Roon (17), Gakpo (31), Weghorst (39)<\/p>\n Booked<\/span>: Van Dijk, Ake\u00a0<\/p>\n Greece<\/span>: Vlachodimos, Rota, Retsos, Chatzidiakos, Tsimikas, Siopis, Kourbelis, Masouras, Bakasetas, Mantalos, Pavlidis.<\/p>\n Subs: Athanasiadis, Chatzigiovanis, Giakoumakis, Giannoulis, Ioannidis, Papanikolaou, Koulierakis, Fountas, Limnios, Paschalakis, Pelkas, Bouchalakis.<\/p>\n Dumfries could have had a goal of his own but was denied by the post in the 36th minute while Xavi Simons swerving shot in the 28th minute produced a miraculous one-handed stop from Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.<\/p>\n The second half was light on chances but the damage was done as the Greeks suffered their heaviest defeat since Gustavo Poyet took over as coach some 18 months ago.<\/p>\n The Dutch face a key qualifier in Dublin on Sunday against Ireland, who lost 2-0 to France on Thursday. Greece host Gibraltar in Athens on Sunday.<\/p>\n France, who comprehensively beat the Dutch in the opening game, still top the group with a 100 per cent record after a fifth successive victory following their 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Marcus Thuram scoring.<\/p>\n But the Netherlands have now moved in behind them after a second successive victory.<\/p>\n Albania maintained their challenge in Group E as a 1-1 draw with leaders Czech Republic kept them ahead of Poland.<\/p>\n Nedim Bajrami’s 66th-minute goal cancelled out Vaclav Cerny’s opener to earn them a point in Prague, while Robert Lewandowski scored twice – one a penalty – as the Poles beat Faroe Islands 2-0.<\/p>\n Hungary came from behind to beat Serbia 2-1 and open up a three-point cushion at the top of Group G, as Barnabas Varga and Willi Orban scored within three first-half minutes of each other as they recovered from Atila Szalai’s early own goal.<\/p>\n Lithuania’s Fedor Cernych scored a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw to damage Montenegro’s chances after Nikola Krstovic and Stefan Savic had struck late in the game to take the lead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\nIT’S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n