Netherlands’ Cody Gakpo scored his third goal of the European Championship and substitute Donyell Malen added two more late on to defeat Romania 3-0 in their last-16 fixture as the Dutch burst back into form with a lively display on Tuesday.
They had been lambasted by their media and fans for a poor defensive display in their final group game, a 3-2 loss to Austria, but were more composed and in control as they reach the Euro quarterfinals for the first time since 2008.
The Dutch started slowly at the Munich Football Arena as underdogs Romania — roared on by their yellow-clad supporters — controlled the ball for the first quarter of an hour before the Netherlands slowly started to get a grip on the match.
They broke the deadlock after 20 minutes when player of the match Gakpo fired low past Florin Nita at the keeper’s near post before Malen’s late double clinched a quarter-final with Austria or Turkey, who play later on Tuesday, in Berlin on Saturday.
“This was the answer we had to our last performance – good game, good goals, we played good football,” Gakpo said.
“Of course we could do better but a good showing after the last game. A good step in that next direction. We felt we were in control even though they were a dangerous opponent.”
Gakpo was a menace all night and turned provider for Malen’s first goal in the 83rd minute when he kept the ball in play on the touchline and knocked it across the box for an easy tap in.
Malen, who is the first Netherlands player to score in a Euro knockout match as a substitute, notched his second in stoppage time when he collected the ball in midfield, dribbled into the penalty area and fired past Nita as the Dutch served notice that they have started to click at the tournament.
Romania, who were forced into a first half substitution when Bogdan Racovitan came on in defence for Vasile Mogos after a collision, created few chances and never looked a serious threat as the Dutch controlled possession and waited to get forward.
Romania manager Edward Iordanescu had said his side, who topped Group E with four points, would need a near perfect performance but his players lacked the crispness and counter-attacking threat they displayed earlier in the tournament.
“We played well the first 15 to 20 minutes then their first goal came and it destabilised us to some extent,” Romania defender Andrei Burca said. “We are disappointed, we wanted a lot from this match.”
The Netherlands had two thirds of possession and almost five times more chances with 24 attempts in the game to underline their superiority as Virgil van Dijk struck the post with a header and Gakpo had a second effort ruled out for offside.