Cody Gakpo scored and Donyell Malen netted twice off the bench as the Netherlands booked their place in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Romania.
Gakpo saw his low drive beat Florin Nita for power 20 minutes in to settle the Oranje's nerves, and they were in total command from that moment on.
The Liverpool man saw a potential second goal ruled out before Virgil van Dijk struck the woodwork, but some fine work late on saw him tee up substitute Malen to make it 2-0.
Malen then added further gloss on the break in stoppage time, and the Netherlands will approach Saturday's quarter-final tie against Austria or Turkiye with confidence, with a potential semi-final clash with England still on the cards.
The Netherlands made a tentative start and were fortunate to see Dennis Man's 20-yard drive float over the crossbar, but the Oranje went ahead in the 20th minute.
Gakpo cut inside Andrei Ratiu before shooting from the left side of the area, and Florin Nita arguably should have done better as the ball squirmed past him at his near post.
The Netherlands grew in confidence from there and bossed the remainder of the first half, going close to a second goal when Denzel Dumfries forced an error from Bogdan Racovitan before teeing up Xavi Simons, but the RB Leipzig man took too long before shooting wide.
The Oranje pressure continued after the restart as Ratiu's desperate tackle prevented Memphis Depay from blasting into a gaping net, before Van Dijk sent a downward header against the post and wide just before the hour mark.
Depay then called Nita into action with a ferocious 25-yard strike before he was denied his brace by a VAR review, being called offside after he poked home following a scramble in the area.
Joey Veerman went closer still when he rolled his shot across goal and wide after finding space on the left of the box, but Ronald Koeman's team had daylight with seven minutes remaining.
Gakpo did brilliantly to keep the ball in play under pressure from Radu Dragusin, with Malen turning his low cross home for the clinching goal.
With Romania crestfallen, Malen doubled his tally at the death, streaking away on the break before rolling his finish into the bottom-left corner.
Gakpo enters Golden Boot race
Perhaps Nita should have done better for Gakpo's opener, failing to keep his shot out despite getting two hands to it at the near post, but the Liverpool man caught out the goalkeeper with a lethal strike after turning Ratiu.
He now has three goals at Euro 2024, joining Jamal Musiala, Georges Mikautadze and Ivan Schranz at the top of the scoring charts, with the latter two having already been eliminated.
He also scored three times at the 2022 World Cup, meaning Kylian Mbappe (nine goals) is the only European player to outscore him across the last two major tournaments.
Gakpo is also just the third Netherlands player to score three or more goals at two different major tournaments, after Johnny Rep (1974 and 1978 World Cups) and Dennis Bergkamp (Euro 1992, 1994 and 1998 World Cups).
Romania's luck runs out
Romania thrilled fans with their matchday-one victory over Ukraine, but after that, they were somewhat fortunate to escape the most balanced group in European Championship history.
Among all teams to progress from the group stage, only Georgia (71) faced more shots than Romania's 46.
They started brightly as they attacked a sea of yellow at one end of the stadium on Tuesday, but the Netherlands soon assumed control, firing off 23 shots worth 2.75 expected goals (xG) to Romania's five (0.28 xG).
The extent of the Dutch dominance was illustrated by the fact they had 10 first-half corners, with only Sweden (11 versus Italy at Euro 2000) having more in an opening period at the tournament since 1980.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
