Full-time: Netherlands 3-2 Ukraine
That was classic entertainment and turned out to be an ideal start to the tournament for the Netherlands. Even in the goalless first half this was an absorbing contest, but it reached another level in the second period. The Dutch deservedly went two goals up but were then shocked by two brilliant goals from Ukraine. But Dumfries - who had missed a sitter in the first half but never stopped attacking down the right - delivered a final twist by heading in the winning goal. The Ukranian keeper made a couple of excellent saves but was iffy on all the goals. But this was undoubtedly the best match of Euro 2020 so far. Hurray!
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90+2 min: Sydorchuk booked for shunting Weghorst to the ground off the ball as the Netherlands attacked down the left. The Dutch take it short and intend to keep the ball in the Ukrainian half for the remaining three minutes of added time...
Netherlands substitution: Malen on, Depay off.
90 min: Zinchenko and Yarmolenko forage for an opening down the right. They make good ground but are eventually outfought by the Dutch, whose dynamism has never dipped since the start.
87 min: If you’re still trying to picture Yarmolenko’s goal, here’s Grant Tennille to help. “I was not expecting the Netherlands to concede via what can rightly be described as an Arjen Robben Special.” It doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough to get even a point for Ukraine now, but a thing of beauty is a joy forever. And let’s not rule out another twist in this brilliant unpredictable contest ...
GOAL! Netherlands 3-2 Ukraine (Dumfries 85)
Ake curls a cross in from the left. And Dumfries, who fluffed a header from five yards in the first half, outjumps Zinchenko and sends a downward header into the net! Buschan’s attempt to save it wasn’t especially impressive, nor was the botched clearance that gave Ake the chance to put in the cross in the first place. But the Dutch don’t care about that, they’re in Happy Land again!
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83 min: Ukraione have filed back into a compact shape. They’ve no intention of frittering away a point. But when they win back the ball, you can see they fancy they might yet nick the win. “What a cracking game!” gasps Mar waltz. “Beautiful goals, up and down action, I have no idea how this will end, and that is great.” It sure is.
81 min: Now, can Ukraine make the full turnaround and grab a winner? And how are the Dutch going to react to this sudden negating of what looked like a certain victory?
GOAL! Netherlands 2-2 Ukraine (Yaremchuk 79)
Oh my, they’ve comeback! De Roon berated De Vrij for making a clumsy foul on Zinchenko, giving Ukraine a freekick about 30 yards out, to the left. And the reason for his ire becomes clear when Malinovskiy delivers a perfect freekick into the box and Yaremchuk escapes Weghorst and guides a header into the net from 10 yards!
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78 min: Aké has a blast from way out, but he’s no Yarmolenko and it fails to make it even as far as the box, as a defender gets a block in.
GOAL! Netherlands 2-1 Ukraine (Yarmolenko 75)
Wow! What a goal! There had been no sign that was coming. Yarmolenko played a one-two with Yeremchuk on the right and then cut infield and curled a stupendous shot into the top corner from 20 yards! The bend was just beautiful - the ball seemed to be heading wide until it veered into the net. Keeper dived but never got close to it.
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72 min: A snapshot from the edge of the area by Yremechuk after Ukraine’s best move of the second half. It’s nicely struck but a comfortable save for Stekeleburg.
71 min: Dumfries, a constant threat from right wing-back, wins another corner. But it’s overhit.
68 min: Wonderful play in midfield by De Jong, showing strength and skill to beat two players and then slip the ball to Wijnaldum, who has also been magnificent today.
Ukraine substitution: Stepanenko on, Marlos - who only came on in the first half - off again.
Netherlands substitutions: Wijnaldum Ake on, Van Aanholt and Blind off.
59 min: The Dutch are playing with immense energy and enterprise. They will not let Ukraine have a moment on the ball.
57 min: On that goal, there was alaos a question of offside, since Dumfries’ momentum took him into the path of the keeper, and he was right in front of him as the keeper tried to bat away Weghorst’s shot. But the replay suggests there was another defender in line with the Dutchman, so no offside.
GOAL! Netherlands 2-0 Ukraine (Weghorst 58)
But there is a VAR check for a suspected foul by Dumfries in the buildup. In my opinion, there was no foul - Mykolenko went down too easily -. Dumfries had dashed in to the box to try to get on the end of a lovely through-ball by De Jong. The keeper got a block on it but it rebounded to Weghorst, who lashed it first time into the net!
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58 min: Malinovskiy has to come deep to the edge of the own box to try to find time on the ball. But he’s harassed by two Dutchmen and gives the ball away. Ukraine are have become very rudderless in the face of this Dutch storm.
55 min: Depay feeds Weghorst, who takes a touch and the edge of the area and then crashes a shot through bodies but straight at the keeper. Dutch juices are flowing now, they want another goal.
GOAL! Netherlands 1-0 Ukraine (Wijnaldum 52)
The Dutch have the breakthrough! Dumfries fired in a low cross from the right. The keeper ventured out of his six yard box and tried to intercept before it was poked home by an attacker. He dived along the ground and palmed it away but it ran to Wijnaldum, who calmly rammed it into the net from 12 yards!
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50 min: De Jong spots Dumfries haring into the area from the right and clips a pass over towards him. Dumfries heads it back across the face of goal but the keeper pounces on it.
49 min: Ukraine have been stuck in their own half since the start of the second period. The Dutch haven’t been able to prise them open yet but there’s a heck of a long time left to hold out.
47 min: Van Aanholt, having raced down the let, fails to get the ball under control after a fine long crossfield pass by De Vrij.
46 min: Ukraine set the second half in motion. No personnel changes during the interval.
“I agree with what Mr Chesenau just said,” says Anis Aslaam. “This is by far the most exciting match of the tournament so far. However, I’ll agree with Cesc Fabregas when he said that football’s getting robotic.In almost all the matches that have been played so far, three things occurred continuously. A strong press, a low block defence and a tendency to pass the ball along the back line. Not to be nostalgic but its not pleasant viewing compared to the Euros of the 80s till the noughties.”
Half-time: Netherlands 0-0 Ukraine
An engrossing first half played with speed, muscularity and lots of ambition. All that’s been missing is precision in the box, whether in terms of the final interplay or the finishing.
45 min: Ukraine break! Marlos nips a pass into Yaremchuk in the area, The striker rolls a backheel into the path of Yarmolenko, who dinks the ball over the last defender ... but can;t retrieve it before the keeper.
44 min: Zincehnjo clears Depay’s corner at the near post. But the Netherlands quickly win the ball back again, so no respite for Ukraine. They need half-time.
43 min: The Netherlands continue to crank up the pressure. Ukraine are just battening down the hatches now. “I know it’s a bit early to say, but do you think that so far this is the best match we’ve had at the Euro?” wonders Alexandre Cheseneau. “I certainly think so. Two really good teams, giving it all they have. That’s a proper match. Perhaps a little lack of quality in the box which means we don’t see that many chances, but otherwise this is really great.” It’s certainly the most entertaining 0-0 for a while.
40 min: Dumfries is completely free at the back post as he runs on to a cross from the left ... and heads down and wide! Another big let-off for Ukraine.
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39 min: Depay scoops a ball over the defence, urging a teammate to run on to it. But a defender gets there first and heads it to the edge of the area. Wijnaldum is waiting for it and smashes a volley goalward. It takes a deflection but Bushchan adjusts quickly and paws it away with his left hand. What a save!
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36 min: Van Aanholt unloads one from long range, sending a souvenir to one lucky fan in Row Z.
34 min: Dumfries joins in the attacking again down the right, banging in another dangerous ball. But Zabarnyi is wise to it and wellies it away.
32 min: The tempo remain pleasingly high but the sides are struggling for inspiration when they get into the last third.
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30 min: Ukraine pen the Dutch into their own area as they probe. They eventually work it to Yarmolenko, who feints to shoot with his left and then turns on to his right and lets fly. It’s a pure strike, but straight at Stekelenburg.
28 min: Timber, joining in the attack to good effect again, receives the ball mid-way inside the opposing half and then tucks a nice pass into Depay. Depay pokes it into the path Weghorst, who tries to go around Buschchan, but the keeper slides in and clasps the ball on the ground!
26 min: Dumfries, who is continually offering options wide on the right, collects a pass and then spins a lovely low pass across the face of goal. But no one can get on the end of it.
24 min: Wijnaldum does brilliantly to battle for the ball and win it mid-way inside his own despite pestering from three opponents.
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22 min: Yaremchuk spreads the ball wide to the right, giving Yarmolenko a chance to run at Blind just outside the box. The defender does very well not to commit himself and then ushers the forward away from the danger zone.
20 min: Young Timber looks very accomplished on the ball when he ventures into the opposing half, which he’s ben doing regularly.
18 min: Mykolenko burst past Dumfries down the left, duping the defender by slowing down and then suddenly speeding up. He fires over a cross. Yaremchuk does well to get his head on it near the penalty spot but can’t direct it on to the target.
16 min: After a raid down the right by Ukraine, Yaremchuk tries a shot from the right-hand corner of the box, but he doesn’t catch it properly and it bobbles into the hands of the keeper.
15 min: The Dutch are having most of the ball now and they’re pinging it around at a handsome clip. But Ukraine are defending well and showing plenty of pace and attacking intent when they win back possession.
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Ukraine substitution: Marlos on, Zubkov off.
10 min: Ukraine put the ball out of play so that Zubkov can receive treatment. I don’t know what happened to him but he’s limping.
9 min: This is a proper match. It’s hurtling along and both teams eager to attack and not scared to get stuck in.
7 min: Wijnaldum arrives late into the box to meet a pull-back from the byline. But he’s leaning back and steers his shot from 16 yards just over the bar. That was terrific chance and he winces at his failure to keep the ball down.
6 min: The rollicking start continues apace! This time it’s the Dutch’s turn to spread mayhem in the Ukrainian area. Two defenders hurled themselves at the ball to block shots before Wijandulm showed great awareness and composure to stab the ball to his right, where Dumfries was free, 10 yards out. The keeper advanced quickly on the forward and batted his sidefooted shot out for a corner.
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4 min: More pressure from Ukraine. Malinovskiy curled over a vicious corner, which Stekelenburg came for but couldn’t reach it. Luckily for him, nor could any attacker, so the ball went out of play on the far side.
2 min: It’s been an encouragingly open start. The Dutch don’t look quite good enough to maintain possession for long, and Ukraine are very perky. They caused a bout of panic in the Dutch box before the Netherlands broke fast. Depay ran from half-way, through a couple of defenders and cracked a fierce left-footed shot towards goal from the edge of the area. But it was straight at the keeper, who stopped it without too much bother.
1 min: The Netherlands get the game going...
“t’s a stretch to say Depay is a proven goalscorer, a massive and fairly untrue stretch,” storms Neil Carter. “I understand that by saying this he will inevitably score a hat trick.” Have you seen him play since he left Man United? He scored 20 goals in 37 matches for Lyon last season and created plenty of others, as well as inspiring the team with his can-do attitude. And he’s got 23 goals in 62 appearances for his country. And I really wouldn’t be shocked if he won the golden boot in the tournament, even though I don’t expect the Netherlands to go very far.
The teams stride out on the pitch in the Johan Cruyff Arena and are greeted by a tremendous roar. The stadium’s not full but there are fans dotted all around it and the noise is mighty. The Netherlands are wearing orange, of course, while Ukraine are sporting blue.
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It looks very much like De Boer is sticking with the 5-3-2 system that he introduced just a few weeks ago. The Dutch have been synonymous with 4-3-3 for a long time but it hadn’t been working for them recently so the manager plumped for a change: he’ll probably be castigated for that if the doesn’t pay off but it’s a move that makes sense, especially with Van Dijk and De Ligt out.
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Teams
Dutch manager Frank De Boer has made a couple of interesting calls: 19-year-old Jurrien Timber is drafted into central defence to replace the injured Mattijs De Ligt, while Patrick van Aanholt is selected at left-back instead of Owen Wijndal.
Netherlands: Stekelenburg; Dumfries, Timber, De Vrij, Blind, Van Aanholt; F. De Jong, De Roon, Wijnaldum; Depay, Weghorst
Subs: Krul, Veltman, Aké, Wijndal, Berghuis, de Jong, Klaassen, Gravenberch, Malen, Bizot, Koopmeiners, Gakpo
Ukraine: Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Mykolenko; Zinchenko, Sydorchuk, Malinovskyi; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Zubkov
Subs: Sobol, Kryvtsov, Stepanenko, Shaparenko, Marlos, Pyatov, Makarenko, Besedin, Trubin, Tymchyk, Popov, Dovbyk
Referee: F Brych (Ger)
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to theses countries’ opening matches in Group C. Netherlands are the favourites to win the because they have the pedigree, some promising talents and a proven goalscorer in Memphis Depay. They even have home advantage, since this game - like all their group games - is in Amsterdam. But Ukraine are tough to beat: no one managed to get the better of them during the qualifying campaign, when they finished top of their group – above Portugal – and conceded only four goals in eight matches. Since then they’ve held France to a draw in the World Cup qualifiers (after losing 7-1 to them in a friendly) but drawn with Kazakhstan and Finland. What is more, no team in this tournament is likely to be more motivated than Ukraine, who are representing their nation at a time of war and have a map on their jerseys to remind them that they carry the hopes of many. This looks set to be a tight game, then, and it could go either way.
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