North Macedonia 0-3 Netherlands: Oranje Top Group C2 min read

The Netherlands took on North Macedonia in their final game of the group stages of Euro 2020 at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

After a shaky start to their campaign, Netherlands was looking for their third win under the management on Frank de Boer. North Macedonia on the other hand were preparing to say farewell to their star player, Goran Pandev, who potentially played his last international game.

The match started positive for the visitors as they thought they got a goal within the first 10 minutes.

Larnaca forward Ivan Trichkovski was fed the ball by his captain to go one-one-one with Stekelenburg and score past the Dutch number one. Unfortunately, his goal was denied by a late offside flag.

North Macedonia got another solid chance in the first 20-minutes as Pandev flicked another ball into an attacking position to meet the legs of Aleksandar Trajkovski. The Mallorca winger took a fantastic shot from 20-yards out only for the ball to smack the far post.

Former Eindhoven teammates Memphis Depay and Gini Wijnaldum were having an excellent game as both were creating chances between themselves and other team mates.

Netherlands finally made a breakthrough in the 24^th minute as Memphis put the ball in the back of the visitor’s net after a pacey counter attack.

The away fans were angry as their captain was tackled in the build-up. For a few minutes, Dutch fans were concerned as VAR was used to see if the goal still stood after the tackle. Luckily, Oranje kept their lead.

The hosts had a plethora of chances to score in the opening 45-minutes but they only maintained a 1-0 lead at half time.

Second Half

Denzel Dumfries, who was having the time of his life during this tournament, was subbed off in the second half for Stephen de Vrij. Many were expecting the PSV defender to score a goal against North Macedonia, but perhaps he will in the Round of 16.

The Memphis-Gini link-up play finally payed off in the 51^st minute as Wijnaldum got a goal from a Depay cutback in the Macedonian box, scoring for the 24^th time for his country.

Wijnaldum got his 25^th international goal from a Memphis rebound a few minutes later to seal the game for the Netherlands. He almost got his hattrick just past the hour-mark but fired his shot wide of the near post.

Pandev was met with a round of applause in the 68^th minute when he was subbed off for North Macedonia, in what is probably his last international game at 37-years-old.

A few minutes later, the visitors got another goal that was ruled offside.

The game finished 3-0 to the Netherlands as they go through to the next round of Euro 2020.

Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 via Twitter