The Netherlands beat Wales in stoppage time for the second game in a week, thanks to Memphis Depay’s last-gasp winner.
A last-gasp Memphis Depay strike sealed victory for the Netherlands over Wales, only seconds after Gareth Bale appeared to have earned the visitors an improbable point in Rotterdam.
In a nutshell, the match: Late in the game, Depay made a key move.
Watch now the goals of Netherlands and Wales today!!!
After the final whistle, the Dutch celebrate.
At the other end, Wayne Hennessey saved Janssen’s shot,
and the home side appeared to have been punished when Gareth Bale converted from the penalty spot after Tyrell Malacia was ruled to have fouled Connor Roberts.
But the Netherlands took control almost immediately as Depay,
who had missed a penalty late in the game against Poland on Saturday, pounced to score his 42nd international goal.
After another late win over Wales, the Dutch tighten their grip on first place in Group A4.
The goal scorers in the first half – Lang and Gakpo for the Dutch, Johnson for Wales –
demonstrated that the new generation on both teams is ready to step up and take centre stage. All three players were bursting with energy and displayed outstanding poise in front of goal.
The wise heads then came on to give some late drama to another thrilling Rotterdam match, leaving Wales in a fight with Poland to keep their place in the top flight.
Reaction
Noa Lang, a striker for the Netherlands, told UEFA.com: “It’s like a childhood dream come true, especially since [I scored my first international goal] in my hometown. I’m completely ecstatic. The stadium was packed with family and friends. I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Wales defender Ben Davies, commenting to UEFA.com: “I’m extremely pleased of my sons. We’re up against some of Europe’s greatest squads.
We fought hard and stayed in the game,
and I’m just sorry that we didn’t see it over the line and score a point.”
Figures of importance
With 42 goals, Depay is now the second highest goal scorer in the Netherlands’ history.
Only Greece (nine games) has a longer unbeaten streak in the UEFA Nations League than the Netherlands.
Wales has only lost two of their last 14 games, both to the Netherlands.
All 10 of the Oranje’s games versus Wales have ended in victories.
In each of their last nine encounters against Wales, the Netherlands have scored two or more goals.
Janssen made his first appearance in the Netherlands since October 2017.
In the UEFA Nations League, former Manchester United striker Memphis Depay scored a stoppage-time winner for the Netherlands against Wales.
Depay’s winner came just seconds after Gareth Bale equalised for the Dragons from the penalty spot.
Within the first 25 minutes, Noa Lang and Cody Gakpo had put the Netherlands in command.
Brennan Johnson swiftly halved the deficit,
building to his growing reputation after scoring his first international goal against Belgium on Saturday.
The victory gave Holland a Nations League double over Wales and retained them atop Group A4.
After Saturday’s 2-2 tie with Poland,
Van Gaal stated the stadium no longer fulfilled the standard for hosting international matches, calling it “a piece of old trash.”
In a season dominated by the World Cup play-off final against Ukraine,
which was pushed into their June schedule, Wales have just been on the wrong side of the fine margins.
De Kuip, on the other hand, is undeniably a Dutch stronghold,
and Holland has now gone 30 games without losing in Rotterdam.
Injuries and withdrawals have decimated Wales’ squad before of their fifth game in 14 days.
Injury sidelined Danny Ward, Joe Morrell, Joe Allen, Kieffer Moore, and Neco Williams.
After picking up a couple of Nations League bookings,
Rhys Norrington-Davies was also sidelined, while Bale and Aaron Ramsey were among the replacements.
Lang and Gakpo were a continual source of misery for the visitors,
since Holland had seven survivors from the team that had won in Cardiff only six days before.
After 14 minutes, the two collaborated, with Gakpo escaping a tight corner and firing a sweeping pass into Lang’s path.
That attempt was easily dealt with by Wayne Hennessey, but three minutes later,
when Wes Burns got himself into difficulties and lost control, the Wales goalkeeper was powerless.
Lang was shortly apprehended, and he wisely turned to fire into the corner.
Bruno Martins Indi received a yellow card for colliding with Johnson in a challenge that some referees may have judged a red-card offence.
Despite Gareth Bale’s injury-time equaliser, Wales lost their fourth Nations League encounter, 3-2, to Group A4 leaders Netherlands.
In the first half, the Netherlands scored twice in six minutes,
with Noa Lang opening the scoring with a superb finish and Cody Gakpo finding the bottom corner with a placed effort.
In the second half, Wayne Hennessey made three excellent stops to keep Wales in contention,
but substitute Bale kept his calm to level from the penalty spot in injury time.
Memphis Depay pounced onto a long ball forward and steered an attempt home to crush Welsh hearts only seconds after the restart.
Wales sit bottom of the group with only a draw to show for their efforts,
while Louis van Gaal’s team leads by three points at the top.
How Wales squandered a crucial point
Vincent Janssen, making his first appearance for the Netherlands since October 2017,
sent a weak shot wide before Lang forced Wayne Hennessey to make his first save.
Then Gakpo added a second with a nice tuck home after his original attempt was stopped but fell perfectly back to him to steer beyond Hennessey.
After Dan James won control from Teze in the Netherlands half, Wales equalised with their lone effort at goal. Johnson, who allowed the ball go across his body, was played in by Harry Wilson.
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