Euro 2020: Netherlands edge out Ukraine in five-goal thriller
The Netherlands made an emphatic return to major tournament football by snatching a 3-2 win over Ukraine on Sunday in a thrilling Euro 2020 match after they looked to have thrown away a two-goal lead.
Defender Denzel Dumfries headed the winner in the 85th minute after Ukraine had clawed their way back into the game from two goals down thanks to a stunning curled strike from Andriy Yarmolenko and a Roman Yaremchuk header.
The Dutch had dominated large parts of the frenetic Group C match and deservedly went in front in the 52nd minute when captain Georginio Wijnaldum smashed a loose ball high into the net and striker Wout Weghorst doubled the advantage six minutes later with a scrappy finish.
Dumfries had wasted a glaring chance to score the opening goal late in the first half when he missed the target with a glancing header but he more than made amends with his late strike, helped by erratic goalkeeping by Ukraine’s Georgi Bushchan
MATCH FACTS
This was the first ever match in the history of the European Championships to see five goals scored in the second half of a match that was 0-0 at half-time.
There were nine shots in the opening 10 minutes of this match. Since 1980, when Opta have full shot data for the competition, this is the most shots in the opening 10 minutes of a match at the EUROs.
Denzel Dumfries’ 85th minute winner for the Netherlands was their latest game-winning goal at the EUROs since current boss Frank de Boer scored an 89th minute penalty against Czech Republic at EURO 2000.
Ukraine have lost each of their last six matches at the European Championship finals, the joint-longest run in the competition’s history alongside Yugoslavia (six straight defeats from 1968-1984).
Netherlands have ended a run of four straight defeats at the EUROs. This was their fourth match in the competition at the Johan Cruijff Arena (also three at EURO 2000), remaining unbeaten across the four (W3 D1).
Ukraine had failed to score with any of their last 72 shots at the EUROs before Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk scored with consecutive efforts, four minutes and six seconds apart.
Andriy Yarmolenko scored his 41st goal for Ukraine in his 95th cap – only coach Andriy Shevchenko has scored more goals for the national side (48).
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Gini Wijnaldum has scored 15 goals in his last 26 appearances for the Netherlands, having scored only eight times in his first 50 games for his national side.
Ukraine’s Illia Zabarnyi (18 years and 285 days) became only the second 18-year-old defender to play at the EUROs after the Netherlands’ Jetro Willems at the 2012 edition.
o Maarten Stekelenburg (38 years and 264 days) became the oldest ever player to play for the Netherlands at the EUROs/World Cup, overtaking Edwin van der Sar’s record set in 2008 (37 years and 236 days).