Despite being ranked 200th in the world, Gibraltar were surprisingly above their illustrious opponents in Group B after the opening round of fixtures, having only lost 3-0 to Greece, making them a goal better off than Ronald Koeman’s men after their pasting in Paris.
The former Barcelona boss pledged before kick-off that the hosts would be looking to score “as many goals as possible” in Rotterdam, and it wasn’t all that surprising that they monopolised possession from the outset.
After a number of half-chances for the Dutch, the deadlock was eventually broken on 23 minutes, as Denzel Dumfries put in another teasing delivery. Both Dayle Coleing and 40-year-old captain Roy Chipolina hesitated to clear their lines and Memphis Depay capitalised, nodding home to palpable sighs of relief among the home supporters.
Wout Weghorst and Georginio Wijnaldum had chances to extend the lead before half-time, but Julio César Ribas would have been pleased with his side’s organisation in the face of significant pressure. Koeman introduced Donyell Malen and Cody Gakpo at the break, and the Liverpool forward played a part in the second goal on 50 minutes.
The 23-year-old’s cross was diverted by ex-Abingdon United defender Jayce Olivero into the path of Dumfries, who calmly fed the unmarked Aké for the centre-back to head in off Coleing’s left-hand post.
Less than 10 seconds after the restart, and it went from bad to worse for Gibraltar as Liam Walker’s touch deserted him and the midfielder mistimed his challenge on Wieffer horribly in an attempt to recover the situation, leading to referee Morten Krogh brandishing a straight red.
Chipolina did well to clear Weghorst’s header off the line before a slipping Aké added a deflected third late on, but this contest, despite the Netherlands’ lack of potency, was as one-sided as you would have expected it to be.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)
