The Netherlands have safely reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after a 3-0 win over Romania.

Ronald Koeman made three changes to the side that lost to Austria with Denzel Dumfries, Xavi Simons and Steven Bergwijn all coming in.

Romania made a strong start but it was the Netherlands who opened the scoring when Cody Gakpo cut inside to fire low into the bottom corner. It was his third goal of the tournament so far.

From that point, the Netherlands were in full control but they failed to turn their chances into a second goal before the break. Stefan de Vrij headed wide, while Xavi Simons failed to convert in front of goal.

At the break, Koeman was forced to replace Bergwijn with Donyell Malen coming on. The first big chance of the second half was for Tijjani Reijnders but after a great run his shot was blocked.

Then in the 53rd minute, The Netherlands were again close to a second as a cross caused mayhem in the Romania box but a tackle prevented Memphis from a tap-in. Virgil Van Dijk then hit the post with a header from a corner.

Gakpo did finally have the ball in the net again for the Netherlands after 63 minutes but an offside flag ruled out the goal. Memphis then put an excellent free kick just wide of the post while Joey Veerman also put a shot off target.

Finally, with ten minutes to go, Gakpo did brilliantly to keep the ball in on the left and he crossed for Malen to tap in the second. Then in stoppage time, Malen sealed the victory after a swift counter.

The Netherlands now waits to find out whether it will be Austria or Turkey in the last eight on Saturday evening.




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