Netherlands won a dramatic 3-2 win over Ukraine in the Group C Euro 2020 (Euro 2021) match at the Johan Cruyff Arena Stadium, Monday (14/6).
De Oranje won an important victory at Euro 2020 after winning a crucial duel against Ukraine in the first match in Group C.
The victory was won with difficulty by Netherlands. Since the beginning of the match, Frenkie de Jong and his friends dominated the game and continued to press Ukraine.
A number of opportunities were owned by the Dutch hosts in the first half, two of them through wingback Denzel Dumfries. However, goalkeeper George Bushchan’s impressive performance thwarted every Dutch opportunity.
Dutch efforts to break into Ukraine’s goal only materialized in the 52nd minute through captain Georginio Wijnaldum’s left foot kick.
The goal was created due to the carelessness of goalkeeper Bushchan who failed to anticipate Denzel Dumfries’ cross from the right side properly.
Buschan’s ball was still rolling in the penalty box. At the same time, Wijnaldum came from the Dutch second line and immediately put the ball into the net.
Wout Weghorst striker added to the Dutch advantage to 2-0 in the 60th minute. Weghorst’s right-footed kick that took advantage of the chaos in the Ukraine penalty box could not be anticipated by goalkeeper George Bushchan.
Weghorst’s goal got protests from the Ukrainian players. The reason is, before the goal occurred, Dumfries was considered the first to have violated Vitalii Mykolenko. However, after reviewing VAR, referee Felix Brych still approved the goal.
Ukraine gave the Dutch resistance. In the 75th minute, Andriy Yarmolenko reduced the position to 1-2 with a spectacular goal.
Without a tight guard from the Dutch back line, Yarmolenko curled a left-footed shot into the top right corner of Marten Stekelenburg’s goal, which was too advanced from his goal.
Striker Roman Yaremchuk tried to keep the Dutch from winning their first victory with his goal in the 79th minute. Yaremchuk found the net against Stekelenburg with a header after taking advantage of Ruslan Malinovsky’s free kick.
Lucky for the Netherlands to have Dumfries. After failing to take advantage of a number of golden opportunities in the first half, Dumfries could be the hero of Team Orange’s victory after scoring a goal in the 85th minute that maximized defender Nathan Ake’s cross. Netherlands won 3-2 over Ukraine at Euro 2020.