Netherlands swept Estonia aside 4-0 in Tallinn to round off an excellent international break for Oranje.
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Ronald Koeman decided to make three changes to the side that defeated Germany last Friday with Donyell Malen, Joel Veltman and Davy Propper coming in for Quincy Promes, Denzel Dumfries and Marten de Roon.
Estonia lined up to frustrate Netherlands, who had plenty of possession early on. Virgil van Dijk put a strike from distance wide before Ryan Babel made it 1-0 in the 16th minute. The forward met Daley Blind’s cross and stroke the ball into the net from close range.
Netherlands remained on top after the opener but goalkeeper Sergei Lepmets denied Georginio Wijnaldum and then Babel. Memphis Depay also took aim from distance but his shot flew off target.
Three minutes into the second half it was finally 2-0. A Memphis cross found Babel in the middle and he stooped to head past Lepmets for his 10th international goal.
Van Dijk went close to adding another goal for Oranje with a header that flew just wide of the post. Koeman then made changes with Luuk de Jong and Steven Berghuis getting some game time.
In the 78th minute, it was 3-0 thanks to Memphis on his 50th international appearance. The forward placed the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the box.
Just before the end, Netherlands sealed the win with a fourth goal. Memphis again provided the assist with a free-kick for Wijnaldum to head in.
The victory puts Netherlands onto nine points and three behind both Germany and Northern Ireland with a game in hand. In October, Netherlands host Northern Ireland before travelling to Belarus.
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Hearty congratulations to Oranje footballers and fans. Well played.
Very professional performance from the Dutch, but an easy win as the opposition was quite poor. Still, they haven’t collected 6 points on a competitive matchday in quite some time so this should add a little to their growing confidence as a team.
On to Northern Ireland in October. That will be much more of a challenge, but if the Dutch can win that and follow it up against Belarus they will be well on their way to qualifying.