Euro 2024: Donyell Malen’s double propels Netherlands to quarterfinals with victory over Romania

The Netherlands advanced to their first European Championship quarter-final since 2008 with a 3-0 victory over Romania in the last 16 on Tuesday, led by Donyell Malen’s two goals.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring early for the Dutch, but despite dominating the game, they couldn’t secure a second goal until Gakpo set up Malen with seven minutes left in Munich.

Romania, though determined, couldn’t match the Dutch’s class and missed their chances to capitalize on their opponent’s missed opportunities. Malen then added his second goal on a counter-attack in stoppage time.

This win sets up the Oranje for a quarter-final clash against either Turkey or Austria, the latter having previously defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in the group stage. Ronald Koeman’s team will need to be more clinical in front of goal if they hope to emulate the success of the 1988 Dutch team that won the Euros on German soil, a team Koeman himself played for.

Before the game, Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk criticized his team for lacking energy and the “will to win” in their loss to Austria. However, the Dutch still appeared sluggish in the early stages of the match.

Group E winners Romania, who secured just their second-ever win in the Euros with a 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their opening game, initially pressured the Dutch. Dennis Man came close when he received a diagonal pass from Nicolae Stanciu but shot over the bar.

The Dutch broke the deadlock when Gakpo scored in the 20th minute following a smooth move involving a long pass from Jerdy Schouten to Xavi Simons, who then found Gakpo. Gakpo beat Andrei Ratiu and surprised goalkeeper Florin Nita with a near-post strike.

This goal sparked a period of Dutch dominance, with Stefan de Vrij nearly scoring five minutes later. Just before halftime, Denzel Dumfries stole the ball from Bogdan Racovitan and found Simons, who failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

In the second half, the Netherlands continued to miss chances, with Memphis Depay and van Dijk coming close, and Gakpo’s second goal being disallowed by VAR for offside.

As the Dutch’s nerves grew with each missed chance, Romania lacked the quality to take advantage. Gakpo then took control, dribbling through the penalty area to set up Malen for a tap-in goal with seven minutes remaining.

In the final moments, with Romania pushing for a comeback, Malen scored again on a counter-attack in the fourth minute of stoppage time, securing the victory for the Netherlands.