On Thursday, Cody Gakpo and Steven Bergwijn scored as the Netherlands defeated Poland 2-0 in Nations League Group A4.
The Oranje dominated the first half at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy, leading 1-0 at the break thanks to Gakpo’s close-range finish after 13 minutes.
Poland threatened an equalizer early in the second period, but Bergwijn sealed all three points with a composed finish on the hour mark.
As a result, Louis van Gaal’s team only needs to avoid defeat in their final group game against Belgium on Sunday to advance to the Finals in June.
The Netherlands lost Teun Koopmeiners to injury within the first five minutes, but they went ahead when Gakpo finished inside the six-yard box after a flowing move that easily cut through Poland’s backline.
Memphis Depay squandered a golden chance to double the visitors’ lead, blazing over from a tight angle when a simple pass to Gakpo would have almost certainly resulted in a goal, while Steven Berghuis curled narrowly wide.
Poland came out firing after the break, with Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Szymanski both coming close to equalizing.
However, their chances of getting back into the game were dashed in the 60th minute when Bergwijn calmly slotted past Wojciech Szczesny after being set up by Vincent Janssen.
What does it imply? Oranje hardly breaks a sweat.
The Netherlands were excellent value for their victory, with Van Gaal’s only disappointment being that they did not beat a poor Poland side by a larger margin.
They only need to win Sunday’s mouth-watering match against their neighbors to secure a spot in next year’s Finals.
Gakpo’s hot streak is continuing.
Gakpo has eight goals in seven Eredivisie games for PSV this season, and he carried that form onto the international stage, putting the Netherlands ahead early on with his third goal at this level.
Lewandowski is gun-shy.
For Poland, Robert Lewandowski cut a frustrated figure up front. For the past decade, the Barcelona man has been one of Europe’s most potent strikers, but he failed to have a single shot here as his team struggled to break down their opponents.
What comes next?
Both teams finish their Group A4 campaigns on Sunday, with Poland visiting Wales and the Netherlands hosting Belgium.