Netherlands 0-1 England: international friendly – as it happened

Jesse Lingard scored England’s first winner on Dutch soil for 49 years, securing a deserved result for Gareth Southgate’s men

10.07pm GMT

Match report: Netherlands 0-1 England

Related: Jesse Lingard strikes as experimental England defeat Netherlands

9.41pm GMT

England win in Holland for the first time since 1969, thanks to Jesse Lingard’s second-half strike! It’s no more than Gareth Southgate’s side deserved: they were much the better side, in control of proceedings pretty much from the get-go. That’s halted a seven-game winless sequence against the Dutch, one stretching all the way back to that win at Euro 96. It’s a result that will give England much confidence going into the friendly against down-on-their-luck four-time World Cup winners Italy on Tuesday ... and one which will raise hopes of a good showing in Russia come the summer. The countdown to the World Cup finals: it’s on!

9.40pm GMT

90 min +3: A lot of midfield faffing, which will do England nicely.

9.38pm GMT

90 min +2: Babel loops a cross in from the right. Weghorst is under it, hoping to get a header away, but Pickford rises high to claim well.

9.37pm GMT

90 min +1: Holland throw everyone forward. De Ligt is caught miles offside.

9.37pm GMT

90 min: There will be four added minutes.

9.36pm GMT

89 min: Some late changes. Maguire, who has been excellent since coming on early, is replaced by Eric Dier. Meanwhile Strootman and De Vrij are replaced by Wout Weghorst and Donny van de Beek.

9.35pm GMT

88 min: Depay dribbles in from the left and nearly breaks into the England box. The door’s slammed shut, so he tees up Van Aanholt ... whose shot at goal goes out for a throw on the right. It’s been that sort of night for Holland.

9.34pm GMT

87 min: England are hogging the ball, running the clock down in a very measured and professional style.

9.32pm GMT

85 min: Depay has been Holland’s best player by some distance. His energy causes England some trouble down the right. The ball breaks to Hateboer, inside the area. Hateboer tries to turn and shoot from a tight-ish angle on the right, but it doesn’t work out for him.

9.30pm GMT

83 min: Depay whips the free kick over the wall, looking to curl one unexpectedly into the top left. But it’s straight at Pickford. England go up the other end, Alli crossing deep from the left. Welbeck threatens to meet the dropping ball at the far post, but van Dijk puts an end to that plan. However he can’t stop the ball breaking back to Trippier, who lets rip from the edge of the box. It’s a very decent effort, but straight at Zoet.

9.29pm GMT

82 min: Depay, from the right, slips a ball inside for Babel, who is crudely dragged to the ground by Stones. This will be a free kick in a very dangerous position, 25 yards out, just to the right of the D.

9.28pm GMT

81 min: Southgate stands on the touchline doing quite a lot of clapping. He knows a big victory - England’s first over the Dutch since that match at Euro 96 - is very close now.

9.26pm GMT

79 min: Holland knock it about, but it’s all very passive. Eventually the ball’s shuttled to Van Aanholt on the left: he’s in plenty of space, but he’s also offside.

9.25pm GMT

78 min: If England manage to hold onto the lead, this will be their first win in the Netherlands since 1969, when Colin Bell was the difference in a 1-0 victory for the then-reigning world champions.

9.22pm GMT

76 min: England enjoy an extended period of possession in the middle of the park. They look confident and in control right now.

9.21pm GMT

74 min: There’s not a whole lot going on. Holland’s response to falling behind has failed to cause England too much heartache.

9.19pm GMT

72 min: Depay, who hasn’t stopped running or harrying all evening, has a blast from the edge of the England area. He doesn’t quite get it right.

9.17pm GMT

71 min: Now Rose is replaced by Ashley Young.

9.16pm GMT

70 min: Nobody can string two passes together at the moment.

9.15pm GMT

68 min: ... while Rashford, Sterling and the goalscorer Lingard are exchanged for Jamie Vardy, Dele Alli and Danny Welbeck.

9.13pm GMT

66 min: The managers ring the changes. Dost and Promes make way for Davy Propper and Ryan Babel ...

9.12pm GMT

65 min: Holland launch it long. Dost rises on the edge of the box and heads down. Promes peals one goalwards. It’s blocked, but that’s a little better from the hosts.

9.11pm GMT

63 min: The set piece is cleared, but Holland come back at England. Wijnaldum has a rake from the right of the D. It’s not a good effort, but the ball dribbles through to Dost, who attempts to help it goalwards with a backflick. He doesn’t catch it properly and Pickford is able to field it.

9.09pm GMT

62 min: Holland finally spring into action. Depay dribbles in from the left and shoots, but his shot is blocked. Then Promes has a look from the edge of the area. His effort is deflected over the bar for a corner.

9.08pm GMT

61 min: The England fans have caught Euro 96 fever: they belt out a rendition of Three Lions. Football’s coming home. The Dutch support aren’t able to respond with much. Their team haven’t given them much to sing about, to be fair.

9.07pm GMT

This is no more than England deserve. Lingard spreads the play out left to Rose, who crosses fiercely. De Vrij can only half clear. The ball drops to Lingard, just outside the area. He strokes a confident effort into the bottom left! Zoet might have done a little better, perhaps, but take nothing away from the quality of England’s build-up play, or Lingard’s strike.

9.05pm GMT

57 min: Now it’s Lingard’s turn to play a poor ball, rolling one infield from the left, blind, towards Stones. Dost nearly nips in to intercept. Stones just about hacks clear, which is just as well, because the Dutch striker would have been through on goal.

9.03pm GMT

56 min: Holland stroke it around the back for a bit. Then De Ligt sprays a dreadful pass out of play under no pressure whatsoever. The young man’s had a shaky few minutes.

9.01pm GMT

54 min: Rashford takes a speculative shot from 20 yards out on the left. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right. From the set piece, Maguire heads down. Surely Henderson or Sterling will smash the ball home from six yards! But they get in each other’s way, the ball doesn’t quite drop for either of them, and eventually there’s a hand ball which releases the pressure on Holland.

9.00pm GMT

52 min: England should have a penalty kick. Rashford tears after a pass down the inside-right channel. As he strides into the area, hoping to round Zoet on the outside, de Ligt comes sliding in from the back. He nicks Rashford, enough to send the striker tumbling. The referee’s not interested. That’s a poor decision.

8.58pm GMT

50 min: Holland do seem to have a renewed sense of purpose, though. They earn a corner down the right. From it, Depay whips a low cross into the six-yard box from the byline. De Vrij sticks out a telescopic leg and nicks the ball away from Pickford, then flicks it into the net. There’s cheering, and all that, but the goal won’t count because Depay didn’t get his cross in before the ball went out of play.

8.56pm GMT

49 min: Depay finally gets some joy down the left but having reached the byline in space, his cross isn’t that hot. The ball still drops for Strootman on the edge of the box, but the Dutch midfielder takes a fresh-air swipe. England flood up the other end: Rose makes the same mistake as Depay after a run into acres down the left.

8.54pm GMT

47 min: England pick up where they left off: on the front foot. Oxlade-Chamberlain has a dig from distance, but it’s blocked. Rashford tries to cut in from the left wing, but can’t link up with anyone. A lively start to the half though.

8.53pm GMT

And we’re off again! Holland are out first, having presumably been given a rocket by Ronald Koeman. No changes; do better. They get the ball rolling again when England, equally unchanged, finally rock up for work. “In case you can’t hear what the England fans are singing, it’s actually football-related, and contains no swearing, which is pretty unusual,” reports our man Philip Cornwall. “‘There’ll be no Tartan Army in Mos-cow’, to the tune of 10 Green Bottles. A relief from the usual mindless ‘10 German Bombers’ to the same tune.” Scotland are losing at home to Costa Rica, by they way. Nick Ames has all the news from tonight’s other big games.

8.37pm GMT

Half-time reading:

Related: On second thoughts: England 4-1 Netherlands, Euro 96

8.36pm GMT

Rose finds a bit of space down the left but his cross into the centre is headed clear by de Vrij. Depay has a speculative shot from the right of the D; Pickford smothers. And that’s that for the first half. England have been the better side, though they’ve had no cutting edge. Holland have been very poor. International friendlies, huh. More soon!

8.33pm GMT

45 min: The first half peters out.

8.31pm GMT

43 min: Some good work from Promes down the right briefly stretches England, but Depay and Strootman faff around and the visitors have the chance to regroup. Holes are filled and gaps are plugged, and that’s that for the Dutch attack.

8.30pm GMT

42 min: Van Aanholt strips Henderson of possession down the left. He looks to tee up Depay on the inside, but the chance to shoot is spurned. Holland are very ponderous.

8.28pm GMT

40 min: So having said that, they come reasonably close to scoring. Hateboer earns a corner with some hard work down the right. The set piece hangs above the penalty spot. Pickford comes off his line and doesn’t get there; Dost clanks a header over the bar. Totally basic football. But it nearly gave Holland the lead.

8.27pm GMT

39 min: Van Aanholt sends Depay scampering down the left. Depay’s cross is high and wasteful. Holland look very uncertain up front.

8.26pm GMT

37 min: Sterling races after a long Lingard pass down the inside-right channel. He’s free, but Zoet races miles out of his box to slide-tackle the ball away from the England man. It’s fine goalkeeping, Sterling clattered but clattered in a fair challenge. The home fans are pretty quiet at the moment; their side are second best right now.

8.23pm GMT

36 min: Trippier bursts down the right; he’s been a bundle of energy tonight. He floats a long ball forward in the hope of releasing Rashford into the area. De Ligt steps in to chest back to Zoet. Fine football all round.

8.22pm GMT

34 min: England are pinning Holland back in their final third. They’ve impressively taken control of this match. The only thing they need to do is seriously trouble Zoet. That elusive final ball. Trippier tries to unnerve the keeper with a low fizzer while tight to the byline on the right, but the cross is snaffled.

8.20pm GMT

32 min: Sterling zips down the right and is denied further progress by van Dijk. Then Rose probes down the left. He’s bundled over by Hateboer. A free kick, which is curled into the box by Walker. Henderson eyebrows it towards the bottom right. It flashes wide. Rashford tried to arrive on the scene to poke home, but couldn’t make it.

8.18pm GMT

30 min: Sterling has a whack from the left of the D. It’s deflected out for a corner. Maguire meets the set piece with a downward header into a thicket of players in the six-yard box, but nothing constructive comes of the situation. England are much the better side right now.

8.17pm GMT

28 min: England ping it around nicely, and for quite a while, like Holland used to do at Wembley back in the day. Trippier ruins all the good work when set free down the right, clanking an uncharacteristically poor cross over everyone in the box. But that’s decent play from the visitors.

8.14pm GMT

26 min: Promes looks to latch onto a ball sent looping into the England area. Rose gets in front of him and guides it back to Pickford. Holland aren’t doing a great deal in attack.

8.13pm GMT

25 min: Van Aanholt barges into Walker, who falls to the ground. The ball nevertheless breaks upfield to Sterling, and suddenly England are three on two! But the referee blows up ... for a foul to Holland. Very strange.

8.12pm GMT

23 min: Lingard, Rose and Rashford combine in brisk style down the left, earning a corner out of nothing. That was a nice little burst of crisp, technical play. The set piece comes to nothing, mind.

8.09pm GMT

21 min: Henderson’s loose pass upfield to Rashford is intercepted by young De Ligt, who strides forward in the 1970s style before lashing a low shot towards the bottom left from distance. Pickford gathers it easily enough.

8.07pm GMT

19 min: England have been the better team so far, though that’s not saying a whole load. Rose catches Hateboer with a late clip, a little payback perhaps for their early coming together.

8.05pm GMT

17 min: Good work from Sterling sets up Lingard for a shot from the edge of the Dutch area. Lingard’s low shot whistles wide right of the goal. He wants a corner for a flick off De Vrij’s leg, but he’s not getting it.

8.04pm GMT

16 min: Walker bursts down the right, a run of great power and ambition. After making it 60 yards upfield, he wants a one-two with Oxlade-Chamberlain, which would release him into the area. Oxlade-Chamberlain opts to switch play towards Rose on the left, and balloons his pass into the stand. What a waste.

8.02pm GMT

14 min: Walker, quarterbacking from deep on the right, spreads a gorgeous crossfield pass to Rose. Rose is clear down the left, but there’s nobody in the middle supporting him. He hoicks a wild cross high over the box and out of play on the right.

8.00pm GMT

12 min: It’s been a stop-start opening period. Holland stroking it around the back awhile isn’t going to help this match gather momentum.

7.58pm GMT

10 min: Harry Maguire comes on in Gomez’s stead. That’s rotten luck for Gomez, who has come a cropper in an innocuous midfield challenge.

7.57pm GMT

9 min: Gomez has gone down the tunnel, he won’t be coming back. England aren’t ready to make a change yet, though, so for a minute they’ll be down to ten men.

7.56pm GMT

8 min: Sterling buzzes around the front of the Dutch box, before teeing up Oxlade-Chamberlain to the right of the D. Oxlade-Chamberlain sends a rising shot towards the top left, but Zoet is behind it all the way and claims with ease.

7.55pm GMT

7 min: Now it’s Gomez down and injured. He went up for a high ball in the midfield with Dost, and landed on his ankle awkwardly. He hops off with a grimace, for some more treatment.

7.54pm GMT

6 min: Holland press England back for the first time in the match. Depay threatens to break clear down the left but is ushered into the corner and forced to check back. Strootman whips a high cross into the box, but England deal with it.

7.51pm GMT

4 min: Rose takes the corner himself. It’s not all that. Holland clear easily enough. But this is a bright start by the visitors.

7.51pm GMT

3 min: Ah, Rose seems OK. He goes racing off down the left to meet a long pass, and hooks a cross into the mixer from the byline. De Vrij is forced to knock the ball out for the first corner of the evening.

7.50pm GMT

2 min: Rose looks a bit groggy; Hateboer’s shoulder caught him flush in the face. He gets up and will continue. But that’s not an ideal start for the England wing-back.

7.49pm GMT

And we’re off! England get the ball rolling. Stones launches it long. Rashford slides in from the left and nearly works space to shoot, but he’s closed down quickly enough. Then play is stopped so Rose can get some attention; he was clattered by Dutch debutant Hateboer in a midfield 50-50. “Southgate’s missed a trick there,” suggests Jeremy Solomon. “He could have played five full-backs if he’d picked Ashley Young too. I reckon that would have made for a record.”

7.44pm GMT

The teams are out! Holland in their world-famous oranje, England in their equally storied white. A rare old atmosphere in the ArenA, lights flashing and music blaring. Time for the anthems! But we have no obligations, so instead let’s have a blast of this marvellous racket. Close your eyes, drift away, and picture the Cruyff Horns stumbling out of a canalside drinker and onto an Amsterdam pavement at carouse o’clock.

7.39pm GMT

Gareth Southgate speaks! “It’s a great competition for places now. We believe in all the goalkeepers we have got; Jordan Pickford has excellent distribution. It’s a shame for Jack Wilshere, but across the two games we want to look at different players. You want the players to gain belief. Holland didn’t qualify but they’re still a top football nation. So if we come here and play well, the results will follow.”

7.15pm GMT

A new era for Dutch football begins this evening. It’s the Oranje’s first match under former Southampton and Everton boss Ronald Koeman. They’ve also named a new captain in Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool man will marshal a three-man defence alongside Stefan de Vrij of Lazio and latest Ajax prodigy Matthijs de Ligt.

6.56pm GMT

An interesting selection by Gareth Southgate. Two right-backs in the shape of Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker, three if you count Joe Gomez, though he’s a central defender at heart and that’s where he’ll play today. Walker will also take a spot in the centre of the defence. An engine room of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson. Marcus Rashford takes the place of the injured Harry Kane. And it’s Jordan Pickford who gets a run-out in goal, much as expected.

6.42pm GMT

The Netherlands: Zoet, de Ligt, de Vrij, van Dijk, Hateboer, Wijnaldum, Strootman, Van Aanholt, Promes, Depay, Dost.
Subs: Cillessen, Til, Ake, van de Beek, de Roon, Berghuis, Propper, Weghorst, Babel, Vilhena, Fosu-Mensah, Kluivert.

England: Pickford, Trippier, Walker, Stones, Gomez, Rose, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Sterling, Rashford, Lingard.
Subs: Hart, Butland, Dier, Mawson, Maguire, Tarkowski, Livermore, Young, Cook, Alli, Vardy, Lallana, Welbeck, Pope.

6.40pm GMT

Style guide:

9.55am GMT

The ballad of the Netherlands and England lopes along to a strange rhythm. All of the early matches were friendlies. The only game before the war was settled by Fred Worrall of Portsmouth in 1935. After it, Chelsea’s Tommy Lawton went goal crazy at Leeds Road in 1946, scoring four times in an 8-2 rout at Huddersfield Town’s old ground. Another notable game featured Johan Cruyff teasing the English in 1977, the 2-0 final score no reflection on the gulf in quality between the sides.

Cue a sudden burst of (mainly) memorable competitive action. Marco van Basten knocked England out of Euro 88; there was a goalless borefest at Italia 90; Ronald Koeman ensured England didn’t reach USA 94; England got some revenge with that 4-1 thrashing at Euro 96.

Continue reading...
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on March 23, 2018 14:43
No comments have been added yet.


Scott Murray's Blog

Scott Murray
Scott Murray isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.
Follow Scott Murray's blog with rss.