Late goal from Denzel Dumfries keeps Oranje in good spot for Nations League progress

A late goal from Denzel Dumfries in the UEFA Nations League match against Hungary on Friday has ensured that the Netherlands is still in with a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals. The defender helped Oranje to a 1-1 draw, and this was shortly after captain Virgil van Dijk was sent off for a second yellow card.

Germany are leading the group at the halfway stage with seven points. The Netherlands has five points, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina follow them with two and one point respectively. Oranje faces Germany away in Munich on Monday.

Ronald Koeman said prior to the match that he hoped that his team would play with the same energy as they did in the matches against Bosnia (5-2 win) and Germany (2-2).

But his side struggled to play against a team playing as defensively as Hungary did and with the number of fouls that Hungary made. Hungary kept the spaces small around their penalty area after last month’s disappointing results against Germany (5-0 loss) and Bosnia (0-0).

Oranje had a lot of possession of the ball but was hardly ever dangerous. Hungary was gambling on a corner, free kick, or quick counter, and that turned out to be an effective tactic. Roland Sallai hit the post after a smartly taken corner by Dominik Szoboszlai.

Sallai got his goal in the 32nd minute after Tijjani Reijnders lost possession in the midfield. The striker had a ton of space to receive the ball from Zsolt Nagy (1-0).

Koeman chose to start the match with Joshua Zirkzee as striker instead of Brian Brobbey. Quinten Timber and Micky van de Ven took the places of the injured Jerdy Schouten and Nathan Ake. The team was missing many more players, including Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Jurrien Timber, Joey Veerman, Wout Weghorst, and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Oranje came close to a goal twice before halftime. Reijnders’ effort was saved by goalkeeper Dénez Dibusz, and Cody Gakpo failed to score after an indirect free kick. Koeman’s side increased the pressure on the home team’s defence after halftime. However, Stefan de Vrij missed two headed opportunities and Reijnders was unable to find Denzel Dumfries with a vital pass.

Zirkzee was struggling against the Hungary defence, but Koeman waited until the 75th minute before making the substitution. Brobbey came on to replace him, and Guus Til and Donyell Malen came onto the pitch for Timber and De Vrij.

Brobbey should have scored with his first touch off the ball, but his header went wide. Van Dijk was then given two yellow cards within three minutes for criticizing the referee and a foul, which meant that he was sent off.

In the end, Dumfries' late goal brought some relief to the Netherlands.