Memphis Depay’s last minute free-kick earned Netherlands a 2-2 draw against Scotland in their first pre-Euro 2020 friendly.

Frank de Boer announced before the game that Netherlands would be experimenting in a 5-3-2 formation which the Oranje coach thought would help his side dominate the game more. Jurrien Timber made his debut in the defence as Wout Weghorst got a chance from the start.

Scotland were missing seven players after a covid scare but that didn’t stop them from taking the lead in the 10th minute with Jack Hendry firing a low strike past Tim Krul.

Netherlands quickly equalised through Memphis, who found the net with a clever first-time finish from Georginio Wijnaldum’s knock-down.

From that point Netherlands dominated possession but they failed to have another shot on target for the rest of the half. De Boer had already decided pre-game that Frenkie de Jong and Wijnaldum would only play 30 minutes before going off for Ryan Gravenberch and Davy Klaassen.

In front of the watching Louis van Gaal and Virgil van Dijk, Netherlands failed to turn their dominance into chances after the break and it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Scotland scored a second. Kevin Nisbet netted from a Andy Robertson cross.

De Boer then abandoned the 5-3-2 for 4-3-3 as Steven Berghuis and Quincy Promes entered the pitch. However, it was almost 3-1 with David Turnbull putting a strike just wide.

Two minutes before the end, Memphis won a free-kick on the edge of the box and he curled the ball past Craig Gordon to earn a barely deserved 2-2 draw. It was his 25th Netherlands goal.

A draw for Netherlands and plenty of homework for De Boer, whose side looked average for most of the game. Netherlands face Georgia on Sunday in their final game before the Euros start against Ukraine on the 13th of June.




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