Netherlands kept their Euro 2016 chances alive after recording a 2-1 win over Kazakhstan in Astana.
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The message before the game from Danny Blind and the players was simple. We must beat Kazakhstan on Saturday, and although it may not have been pretty Netherlands got the job done in Astana.
Anwar El Ghazi was handed his debut for the Oranje and the Ajax winger had Netherlands first chance of the game, but he could only head Memphis Depay’s cross wide. On the other wing Memphis Depay had a glorious chance to open the scoring but after running onto Daley Blind’s excellent through ball the Manchester United star could only fire wide.
Eventually the breakthrough did come on 33 minutes as El Ghazi set up Georginio Wijnaldum to fire into the bottom corner from just outside the box. Five minutes into the second half it was 2-0 with Wesley Sneijder finishing off an excellent team move by smashing the ball past Pokatilov from close range.
El Ghazi saw an effort cleared off the line, while Sneijder was denied a second goal by Pokatilov as Netherlands threatened a third, but as the game wore on Kazakhstan came into the game more, and with the last kick of the game Kuat pulled back a consolation.
Netherlands climb temporarily into third spot, but all eyes now turn to Turkey with the hope they slip up against the Czech Republic.
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