Netherlands thrash sorry Hungary to secure Nations League quarter-final place
The first chance of the game actually fell to Hungary inside just three minutes, as Andras Schafer picked up a rebound on the edge of the box, but could only blaze over in a promising position.
Five minutes later, the match was temporarily suspended due to a medical emergency in the visitors’ technical area.
Almost immediately after the restart, the Netherlands were awarded a penalty after their first meaningful attack, as Tamas Nikitscher handled inside the box.
Wout Weghorst stepped up and struck down the middle, wrong-footing Denes Dibusz to net his 14th senior international goal.
Hungary almost responded quickly in an opening 15 minutes full of chances, but after a giant leap, Roland Sallai could only head straight down Bart Verbruggen’s throat. Down the other end, Tijjani Reijnders’ powerful header was wonderfully tipped over by Dibusz.
The first half finally started to settle before 14 extra minutes were added on, and Donyell Malen almost capitalised with his first-time effort at the near post that had to be stopped by Dibusz.
The Borussia Dortmund man then won a second penalty for his side just before half-time as Adam Nagy brought him down, as Cody Gakpo stepped up this time and fired into the top corner to join Weghorst on 14 senior Netherlands goals, with Dibusz again sent the wrong way.
Weghorst almost put the match to bed early in the second half, as his curling effort crashed back off the crossbar, before Jurrien Timber forced Dibusz to push away his drive from just outside the box.
Hungary did give the hosts a small scare when Dominik Szoboszlai flicked Sallai’s pinpoint cross just wide at the back post, but Ronald Koeman’s team sealed victory just after the hour-mark when Denzel Dumfries was quickest to react to Gakpo’s cross to drill into the far corner.
The last five Netherlands wins against Hungary had seen them score at least four goals, and they added a fourth late on as Teun Koopmeiners delicately guided Dumfries’ cross into the corner.
The substitute then struck the crossbar with an acrobatic effort in what could have ended up being a five-star show. Hungary’s three-match unbeaten run in the UNL comes to an end, and Marco Rossi’s men face a daunting task against Germany in their final match, with the table-toppers thrashing Bosnia and Herzegovina 7-0 in the group’s other encounter.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)
