Denzel Dumfries and Memphis Depay shine as Netherlands sink Austria

The Netherlands are into the last 16 via the kind of solid display that is just fine during a tournament’s group stage. Frank de Boer entered Euro 2020 much maligned for his deployment of a 3-5-2, scepticism that was hardly eased by a wobbly opening victory. Yet following a win built on the rock-solid Matthijs de Ligt in defence, De Boer’s men have given him the best riposte: six points from six, which also means that players can be rested when North Macedonia visit on Monday.

Temperatures in the high 20s made this a sultry evening for a contest in which De Ligt’s return from injury was key. De Boer’s system suddenly appeared rounded, the Juventus man’s ability to sense danger and kill it pulling the standard of the rearguard up towards the convincing quality of the Netherlands in attack.

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“This was the opposite of against Ukraine,” De Boer said. “Then we dominated the ball but in defence lacked some quality. Today we lost the ball quickly, which is not too Dutch. We showed different qualities – were much better defensively.”

Of De Ligt he said: “He performed a great game, he was very important, he took away some of their opportunities. Its important that he’s back.”

Austria’s star man is the Real Madrid-bound David Alaba but his was an outing to forget. As the captain an initial task was to ensure team-mates were not affected by the Oranje-fuelled wall of sound that met kick-off. Sadly Alaba may have been diverted because an early error presaged the Netherlands opener .

Here Denzel Dumfries – again excellent as against Ukraine – nipped the ball ahead of the 28-year-old whose challenge took the wing-back down in Austria’s area. Once VAR instructed Orel Grinfeld to study the monitor there was only one verdict: the referee was correct to award the penalty as Alaba clearly stamped on Dumfries’s foot, so up stepped Memphis Depay to roll in the spot-kick for a first tournament strike.

Conceding was a shame for Austria who had shown flashes of silkiness in which the 35-year-old Andreas Ulmer looked to glide in along the left-wingback’s flank, and Xaver Schlager probed from midfield, one cute step-over that wrongfooted a band of orange shirts suggesting a schemer’s eye.

Alaba, though, continued his awry performance. When Dumfries launched a loose throw-in the defender let the ball bounce – a hapless decision that allowed Depay to swoop towards Bachmann’s goal before unloading an effort that rippled the side netting.

Austria had to be careful: allow another goal and the match might race away from then. Better was a Christoph Baumgartner effort that De Ligt placed his head in front of, and the two were soon again involved. When the No 19 curved across the area De Ligt’s timing to slide in and take the ball was imperious and a fine illustration of his class.

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Depay has his own touch of the stuff but this was absent when missing a glaring opportunity. Patrick van Aanholt fizzed a diagonal ball into Wout Weghorst who squared the ball to the No 10 but he could only stab at it from four yards out. Moments later Van Aanholt teed up Giorginio Wijnaldum yet from close range the finish again lacked conviction.

De Boer’s side kicked off the second half 45 minutes from qualifying. First, they had some scrambling to do. Daley Blind, who might have been the fall guy for De Ligt rather than Jurrien Timber, was shown up by Konrad Laimer whose gallop along the right allowed him to cross. The Ajax man could thank his Juventus counterpart for saving him, as De Ligt’s positioning was perfect, the No 3 hoofing clear.

Austria were dominating as they had before the break. Schlager, Marcel Sabitzer and Laimer led an Austria passage of play inside their opponents’ half. So it was that when the Netherlands managed to break out and have Wijnaldum in enemy territory his hashed through-ball felt particularly wasteful.

This woke the Oranje up, though. A Depay corner was floated in and pinball ensued, as Weghorst headed to Stefan de Vrij whose header was repelled by Bachmann, who saw De Ligt’s hit of the rebound appear to beat him before the ball deflected away.

Then came a second goal created by Depay. His swivel presaged a pass to the in-running Donyell Malen, who was on as a replacement. He skated forward, coolly rolled the ball right to Denzel Dumfries, who made no mistake.

Austria pressed to the end – Alaba went close with a shot – but the bottom line is they must beat Ukraine to guarantee passage. That promises to be a highly watchable shootout that will not be simple for either side. The Dutch, though, are currently on easy street.