Netherlands took full advantage of sloppy defensive mistakes from England to reach the Nations League Final on Thursday night.

An own goal by Kyle Walker gave the Dutch the lead after John Stones had given the ball away, then Ross Barkley misplayed a back pass to gift the Netherlands a third goal in the 114th minute.

The Dutch will play the final of Uefa's newest competition against host Portugal in Porto on Sunday, when it will try to lift its first trophy since the 1988 European Championship.

England, which was seeking its first title since the 1966 World Cup, will play Switzerland in the third-place game in Guimaraes, also on Sunday.

Simon Johnson was in Guimaraes to assess the key talking points...

England only have themselves to blame

There will be a lot of furore and anguish over the Jesse Lingard strike that never was, but the players need to look closer to home.

The nature of Netherlands' winning goals didn’t come as a surprise to anybody in the ground or watching back in the UK. It was a nightmare waiting to happen throughout.

Almost from the kick-off, England gave the ball away in their own half on a regular basis and were fortunate Netherlands didn’t take advantage sooner.

Harry Maguire did it twice in the first 15 minutes, central defensive partner John Stones was guilty of similar just before the break. Kyle Walker inexcusably allowed Memphis Depay a free shot at goal after being caught dawdling on the ball.

But the worst was saved for last, well extra time anyway. What Stones was thinking when he tried to do a fancy turn under pressure from Memphis Depay, only he will know.

It looked like it was going to be another lucky escape as Jordan Pickford saved Depay’s shot but in his desperation to prevent Quincy Promes from getting to the rebound, the Manchester City full-back, unfortunately, saw the ball go over the line.

Then it was Ross Barkley’s turn with the clock ticking down he passed the ball straight to Depay and Promes converted the cross.

No team deserves to win a major competition doing schoolboy errors like this and this is another harsh lesson for this group to learn.

VAR steals the limelight for a second night

If TV technology was a huge talking point during the first Uefa Nations League semi-final on Wednesday evening, it was even bigger tonight.

England fans went wild in celebration as superb move, which ended with Lingard finding the net, seemed to have won the match in normal time.

But then it became evident that the goal was being looked at by VAR and soon after the cheers were silenced as Lingard was adjudged offside by the smallest of margins.

Many assume that VAR is only about overturning ‘clear and obvious errors’ but that doesn’t apply to offsides because it is a factual decision.

It felt cruel, especially as football lovers around the globe had been denied a fine goal to enjoy. However, by the letter of the law, it was correct.

VAR soon went from zero to hero among England followers as it also ruled out a penalty decision in Holland’s favour. Replays showed the ball struck Ben Chilwell’s back rather than his arm.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to save them they contributed to their own downfall.

Unlike Tottenham, England do have a Kane back up

One of the biggest problems Mauricio Pochettino faces at Spurs is what to do when Kane isn’t fit so he must be quite envious of Gareth Southgate.

There will be Tottenham fans who will argue that Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura didn’t do too badly in the Champions League, but they are obviously not considered outright centre forwards and certainly not an option to play down the middle over the long-term.

But that isn’t the case for England, who enjoyed the luxury of starting Kane on the bench with Marcus Rashford leading the line instead.

The Manchester United striker didn’t have an amazing game. Indeed due to injury, he only lasted the opening 45 minutes, but his pace frightens defenders, just ask De Ligt. He capitalised on the latter’s error to win a penalty and then calmly converted the spot kick.

It was Rashford’s fourth goal for England in his last seven appearances, which shows that he is starting to find some consistency at this level.

England fans were still delighted to see Kane after the break, with Rashford not being able to shake off an injury sustained when Denzel Dumfries tackled him. But it was positive outing nevertheless.

In-demand De Ligt affected by transfer speculation?

No-one will argue that De Ligt is going to be a star of the world game for years to come, but this was in danger of becoming a night he would want to forget.

Some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, are trying to secure his signature from Ajax this summer.

It is understandable because the 19-year-old has shone for a few seasons now and particularly during his club’s run to the Champions League semi-finals.

But the Dutch centre-half was a bag of nerves for 70 minutes here. De Ligt had already looked unconvincing when he failed to control a simple ball and then made things worse by bringing down Rashford with a clumsy tackle in the area. It gifted England the lead.

The defender couldn’t regain his composure, suffering the humiliation of being nutmegged by Jadon Sancho.

There was an opportunity to get the teams level just before the break, but he sent a free header from a corner wide of the post.

He continued to look uncomfortable following the interval too, yet just when the Netherlands were running out of ideas, the Ajax man headed a brilliant equaliser at the near post.

Then it was the defensive qualities coming to the fore – brilliantly blocking a goal-bound shot from Kane. It was perhaps no coincidence that as he grew in stature, so did his team.

This below par performance by his very high standards definitely won’t put the teams that want him off, but it will provide a little reminder he is not the finished article yet.

Barkley’s terrible mistake ruins a fine outing

For the majority of this encounter, the midfielder was one of England’s best players and was growing in stature in front of our eyes. Barkley was maintaining the standards set in Montenegro last time out when he scored two goals and ran the show.

This was a better, more assured Barkley than one often sees for Chelsea. It is not that he has played badly for the Blues since joining from Everton for £15m in January last year, but there is always a feeling he could do a lot more.

Perhaps the constant rotation with Mateo Kovacic under coach Maurizio Sarri has had a negative impact at Stamford Bridge this term. He does seem to take the easy option and pass the ball rather simply in a blue shirt.

But for long periods, Barkley thrived for the national side in his first semi-final at international level. His play was far more inventive and dynamic. The pass that played in Lingard to score was sublime – unfortunately, the strike didn’t count.

Sadly his pass was just as deadly near the end to help their opponents secure the victory and he collapsed to the pitch in agony.

It will probably haunt him for a while, however, he shouldn’t forget the good work that went before that.