Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Jack Rosser

England player ratings: John Stones and Harry Maguire gift Netherlands goals to reach Nations League Final

England were knocked out of the Nations League finals as Netherlands won in extra time to book a Final date with Portugal.

Marcus Rashford put England ahead after a sloppy opening half an hour, sending Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen the wrong way from the spot having won a penalty from Matthijs de Ligt.

The Manchester United forward lasted just 45 minutes having come off worse after a clash with Denzel Dumfries, captain Harry Kane on in his place at the break.

Jadon Sancho, getting his first taste of tournament football at senior level, wasted a golden chance to double the lead for England when his header from Fabian Delph’s whipped cross was straight down the throat of Jasper Cillessen.

From there on the Dutch were in control. Jesse Lingard replaced Sancho as England looked to hold onto their lead and the Dutch grew in confidence.

It had been coming when De Ligt, following a poor first half, rose well above Kyle Walker to head home a leveller.

Lingard looked to have won the game for England late on, only for his well-taken goal to be ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR check.

That decision meant the second semi-final headed to extra time, where the Netherlands took control and finally punished a sloppy England mistak., John Stones dawdled on the ball near Memphis Depay, who then forced a good save from Jordan Pickford before Quincy Promes turned the rebound onto Kyle Walker and the ball looped into the back of the net.

Another shoddy mistake followed, Stones’ ball out from the back leaving Ross Barkley short and Depay teed up Promes to tap home and wrap it up.

England (4-3-3): Pickford 7; Walker 4, Maguire 4, Stones 4, Chilwell 5; Rice 7, Delph 6, Barkley 5; Sterling 7, Rashford 7, Sancho 7
Subs: Kane 6, Lingard 7, Henderson 6, Alli 6

Netherlands (4-3-3): Cillessen 6; Dumfries 7, De Ligt 6, Van Dijk 7, Blind 6; De Jong 7, Wijnaldum 7, De Roon 6; Bergwijn 7, Memphis 7, Babel 5
Subs: Promes 7, Van de Beek 7, Strootman n/a

Can't see the blog? Click here for the desktop version.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.