Netherlands 1-0 Poland
Caretaker boss Dwight Lodeweges guided the Netherlands to a Nations League victory over Poland tonight, thanks to a second-half Steven Bergwijn strike.
UEFA Nations League; Netherlands vs Poland was a match between two in-form sides which qualified comfortably for Euro 2021; and both nations are building up towards that showcase tournament. But this trophy is worth winning too; and after the departure of Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman to manage Barcelona, Lodeweges had the hosts primed for battle.
The Netherlands vs Poland highlights package tell the story of a one–sided affair for much of the game, but while the Netherlands dominated throughout, Poland stayed in the contest until the final minute.
The win puts the Dutch top of Group A1 and they’ll take some shifting.
Highlights of the game
In the Netherlands’ first game post Koeman, they started well, taking early control of the ball and passing it around at ease. Poland were well organised but they had to soak up a fair amount of pressure which began to tell; after a great team move, Quincy Promes had a good sight of goal but screwed his shot horribly wide.
Virgil van Dijk is arguably the best defender in Europe and he showed just how good he is when a dangerous ball flew into the Netherlands penalty area, but he beat Poland striker Krzysztof Piatek with ease to clear the ball. The Liverpool man was in action at the other end when the Netherlands won a corner. Memphis Depay hit an out-swinging ball which Van Dijk met some six yards out but could only head down into the arms of Wojciech Szczesny.
Dutch keeper Jasper Cillessen was in action on the half-hour after a sweeping move from Poland. Wing back Tomasz Kedziora picked up the play on the overlap and pulled an intelligent ball back to Piatek who hit it the first time, but Cillessen stood firm to save.
Just as we were ready for a half time cup of tea, the Netherlands came very close to scoring when Frenkie de Jong beat the offside trap to collect a lofted ball on his chest, and he fired a low shot towards goal, but with Szczesny beaten the ball bounced back off the base of the post.
The Dutch came close again at the start of the second half when Depay met a swinging cross, but his first touch let him down and the ball ran to safety. Depay and Promes were lively in attack and causing the Polish defence plenty of problems, and eventually, the Dutch dominance paid off when they went ahead on the hour.
After they had defended so well, the visitors had a horrible mix-up at the back and Spurs winger Steven Bergwijn had the easiest job of the night to tap the ball into the empty net.
Key statistics
The pre-match Netherlands vs Poland betting odds here at SBOTOP had the hosts at 1.48 to win and once Bergwijn had broken the deadlock the result became inevitable.
The hosts dominated the first half and won the shot count by seven to two, while each team had one effort on target.
Without the striking presence of Lewandowski, Poland were reliant on Hertha striker Piatek and he worked hard but with little return. Lewandowski reckons he can play on until he’s 40 which is not good news for defenders in the Bundesliga, but it should give the 25-year-old Piatek some incentive.
But this was a tough night for Poland and by the end of the game, they hadn’t added to their first-half shot count while the Netherlands fired 14 shots in total and four on target.
The win extends the Netherlands’ unbeaten run against tonight’s opponents to eight, while Poland’s five-match unbeaten run has come to an end.
What’s next?
Next Monday the Netherlands have a blockbuster clash against Italy to look forward to while Poland has a testing away trip to face Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Italy were frustrated by Bosnia tonight and had to settle for a draw after Edin Dzeko had given the Bosnians a shock lead, and Azzurri boss Roberto Mancini will have them fired up for a clash against the Dutch.
It’s all to play for in Group A1 but Lodeweges can sleep well tonight wit a job well done.
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