Netherlands left it late again against Wales with Memphis Depay netting in the 93rd minute to seal a 3-2 victory.

For the final Nations League game, Louis van Gaal decided to start in a 3-4-3 with Cody Gakpo, Vincent Janssen and Noa Lang the front three. Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners were in midfield, while Bruno Martins Indi and Jordan Teze flanked Matthijs de Ligt in defence.

Netherlands attack was energetic from the start and after 17 minutes, Noa Lang turned his markers before slamming a shot into the net to make it 1-0. Six minutes later, Gakpo made it 2-0 with a low strike after his initial effort was blocked.

The front three caused Wales a lot of issues but in the 26th minute, Teze lost the ball in midfield and Brennan Johnson put a shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Netherlands could have restored their two goal lead before the break but Janssen shot just wide after being presented with a good shooting opportunity.

Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries were brought on at the break for Teze and Hans Hateboer as Van Gaal looked to solidify the defence. Netherlands struggled to kill the game and Wales grew in confidence as the half went on.

Eventually, van Gaal turned to Memphis Depay and Steven Bergwijn but the killer third goal did not come. Bergwijn scuffed wide from point-blank range.

Then in the 90th minute, Wales was awarded a penalty for a foul by Malacia and Gareth Bale seemed to earn Wales a point. However, straight from the kick-off, Denzel Dumfries headed the ball into the box for Memphis to slide in the late winner.

Netherlands move onto ten points in the group and three ahead of Belgium. It is three wins and one draw for Oranje in this international period. Next up in September, Netherlands travels to Poland.




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