Quincy Promes capitalises after John Stones' mistake
Quincy Promes capitalises after John Stones' mistake

Netherlands 3-1 England: John Stones and Ross Barkley errors gift Netherlands victory in UEFA Nations League semi-final


Errors from John Stones and Ross Barkley ensured that the Netherlands booked their place in the UEFA Nations League final with a 3-1 win over England.

Extra-time was required after the score finished 1-1 on 90 minutes. Both sides were matched until that point, although England handed the Netherlands a winner.

Under no pressure, Stones turned one too many times which allowed Memphis Depay to capitalise. His shot was saved, but Quincy Promes did enough on the rebound to deflect the ball goalwards, with help from Kyle Walker.

Near 20 minutes later, England shot themselves in the foot again. Ross Barkley's attempted back pass was intercepted by Depay who played in Promes to score into an empty net.

Celebrations for the Netherlands
Celebrations for the Netherlands

Rashford gave England the lead just after the half hour mark as he struck from the penalty spot.

Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt's second-half header cancelled out the England goal though after a spell of pressure in the second period.

He may be one of Europe's most in-demand players, but de Ligt struggled in the first-half and his low point was giving away the penalty.

An easy pass back to the centre back saw a loose touch, which allowed Rashford to capitalise and de Ligt brought him down inside the area.

The Ajax man was booked and Rashford made no mistake from the spot, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with a shot low into the bottom right corner.

England's goalscorer took a knock at the end of the first-half and was forced off at the break. Captain Harry Kane took his place after returning for Tottenham in the Champions League final less than seven days ago.

With less than ten minutes played in the second-half, Jadon Sancho wasted a golden opportunity to double the advantage. Fabian Delph's perfect cross found the winger unmarked six yards out. His header was powerful but straight at the goalkeeper. Either side and it would have been a goal.

De Ligt made up for his first-half errors though as he equalised in the 72nd minute. He managed to rise above everyone to head in from a corner from close range after a spell of Netherlands pressure.

England thought they had a winner with five minutes of normal time remaining as Jesse Lingard, a second-half substitute, found the back of the net after being played through one-on-one.

VAR stepped in though, and the check showed how the England winger was marginally offside.

The Three Lions pushed for the winner in added time and came close through Raheem Sterling. His curling effort from the edge of the area clipped the top of the crossbar and extra-time was required.

England started the extra-time period well but Stones gifted the opposition a goal with eight minutes played. With little pressure, he turned himself inside out and that allowed Memphis Depay to take a shot.

Jordan Pickford did well to save, but Promes was there on the follow-up and the ball deflected off Walker's boot from close range to go in as everyone scrambled for the ball.

Just when England thought things couldn't get any worse, it was the turn of Barkley to hand the opposition a goal.

His attempted back pass to Pickford was poor and it allowed Depay to capitalise. He squared it to Promes who struck into the empty net to wrap up the result.

England celebrate Marcus Rashford's goal against the Netherlands
England celebrate Marcus Rashford's goal against the Netherlands

Opta facts

  • England have lost three of their last four international matches against the Netherlands (W1 D0 L3).
  • England conceded three goals in a competitive international match for the first time since losing 4-1 to Germany at the 2010 World Cup.
  • Netherlands have only lost two of their last 15 international matches against England (W6 D7 L2) and lost just one of their six competitive games against the Three Lions (W3 D2 L1).
  • Two of England’s last three defeats when leading at half-time have been against the Netherlands (also March 2016) – the other was against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
  • Marcus Rashford has scored four goals in his last seven international appearances for England – one more than in his first 25 games for England (3).
  • Raheem Sterling became the third youngest player to reach 50 caps for England (24y 180d), behind only Wayne Rooney in 2009 (23y 159d) and Michael Owen in 2003 (23y 179d).
  • Matthijs de Ligt has scored in each of his last two international appearances for the Netherlands, having scored none in his first 14 beforehand.
  • England have scored with 20 of their last 21 penalties (excluding shootouts), with only Harry Kane failing in that time against Turkey in May 2016.
  • Kyle Walker became the first England player to score an own goal in an international match since Eric Dier in May 2016 against Australia.
  • Tonight was Gareth Southgate’s 34th game in charge of England and his 10th starting XI with an average age of under 25 – the previous 17 managers to take charge of England did this just 10 times in 595 matches combined.
  • Memphis Depay has been involved in 23 goals in his last 21 international matches for the Netherlands (13 goals, 10 assists).

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