Football

Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands player ratings: Irish qualification hopes now in tatters

September 10, 2023 9:44 pm
Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands player ratings: Irish qualification hopes now in tatters
DUBLIN - (l-r) Donyell Malen of Holland, Cody Gakpo of Holland, Frenkie de Jong of Holland celebrate the 1-1 draw during the European Championship Qualifying match in group B between Ireland and the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Dublin, Republic Ireland. ANP KOEN VAN WEEL - Photo by Icon sport

  • The Netherlands beat Ireland 2-1 thanks to a penalty from Cody Gakpo and a second-half winner from Wout Weghorst.
  • The Republic of Ireland had gotten off to the best possible start and took the lead after just five minutes via an Adam Idah penalty.
  • The Netherlands are now six points clear of Ireland in Group B and will now just face competition from Greece.

Republic of Ireland player ratings: So close yet so far

Gavin Bazunu 5/10 – Clumsy challenge to bring Dumfries down to gift the Netherlands an equaliser.

Nathan Collins 6/10 – Didn’t do too much wrong and dealt with Malan well enough.

John Egan 5/10 – Struggled against Weghorst after the ex-Man Utd man was brought on at half time.

Shane Duffy 7/10 – Looked the most fired up of the Irish defenders and earned his team a penalty in the second minute.

Matt Doherty 6/10 – Didn’t offer his team enough going forward.

Jame McClean 6/10 – Worked hard but lacked a bit of quality in forward areas.

Josh Cullen 7/10 – Didn’t look out of place up against de Jong and made life difficult for the Barcelona man.

Alan Browne 6/10 – Wasn’t in the game as much as he would have liked.

Chiedozie Ogbene 4/10 – Very sloppy in possession when Ireland got into threatening positions.

Jason Knight 5/10 – Had a few half chances that he should have done better with.

Adam Idah 7/10 – Took his penalty well and his overall performance was much improved on his outting against France.

Substitutes

Ryan Manning 6/10 – Came on for McClean and matched his energy.

Jamie McGrath 6/10 – Came on for Egan but didn’t have an awful lot of defending to do.

William Smallbone 6/10 – Failed to spark Ireland into a comeback but didn’t do an awful lot wrong.

Festy Ebosele N/A

Sinclair Armstrong N/A

Netherlands player ratings: Dumfries steals the show

Mark Flekken 7/10 – Only had one save to make after the penalty but distributed the ball well.

Matthijs de Ligt 6/10 – Didn’t look as comfortable as his fellow defenders when asked to bring the ball out.

Virgil van Dijk 7/10 – Couldn’t have done much about the penalty incident and played well for the rest of the game.

Nathan Ake 7/10 – The go-to man at the back whenever Ireland applied pressure.

Denzel Dumfries 9/10 – Played a huge role in both goals and they wouldn’t have won without him.

Daley Blind 6/10 – Still looks too slow to be a wing-back but he retained and recycled the ball efficiently.

Frenkie de Jong 7/10 – Moves effortlessly through midfield even if he didn’t enjoy the physical approach of Browne and Cullen.

Mats Wieffer 5/10 – Never looked comfortable and understandably was taken off at half time.

Xavi Simons 7/10 – Looked bright and got the better of Doherty more often than not.

Donyell Malen 6/10 – Didn’t do great as the main striker and his team looked better when Weghorst played there.

Cody Gakpo 8/10 – Played a delicious ball through to Dumfries which earned him the penalty that he put away emphatically.

Substitutes

Wout Weghorst 8/10 – Got the all-important winner and perhaps should have started.

Tijjani Reijnders 7/10 – Gave the Netherlands more control in midfield.

Teun Koopmeiners 6/10 – Looked bright in the limited time he had.

Noa Lang N/A

Steven Berghuis N/A

Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands match summary and highlights

Going into the match, Ireland boss Stephen Kenny was very open about the fact that his team needed a win if they were to keep their qualification hopes alive. Privately, Kenny has also likely been concerned about his own future in the hot seat after a string of disappointing results.

In a huge night in Dublin, the home side got off to the best possible start when they won a penalty in the second minute. A Shane Duffy header hit Virgil van Dijk on the arm and the referee didn’t hesitate in pointing to the spot. Norwich striker, Adam Idah, stepped up and slotted the ball past Flekken in the Dutch net.

Unfortunately for the home side, the lead didn’t even last 15 minutes. Denzel Dumfries found himself one-on-one with Bazunu after a sensational ball from Cody Gakpo and the goalkeeper brought the Inter Milan man down. Gakpo stepped up and netted his second goal of the week to level the scores.

In the second half, both teams had their chances but it was the Netherlands who grabbed the all-important third goal of the game. Denzel Dumfries nodded the ball down for Wout Weghorst whose near-post run gave him the time to flick the ball past Bazunu to make it 3-1.

Player of the match: Denzel Dumfries

It’s been a very productive international break for Ronald Koeman and the Netherlands and much of that has been down to Denzel Dumfries. The Inter Milan wing-back had three assists to his name in the 3-0 win over Greece and played a key part in both Dutch goals tonight. He was brought down by Bazunu for the equalising penalty and then teed up Weghorst for the winner.

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