Netherlands hold off Ukraine comeback to claim opening win

Denzel Dumfries’s late header gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win over Ukraine in their opening game at Euro 2020.

Ukraine had come back from 2-0 down to level the score late on but Dumfries rose highest to head in from 12 yards and seal the victory for the Dutch.

Georginio Wijnaldum had opened the scoring by powering in after a low cross was parried by Ukraine goalkeeper Georgi Bushchan.

Wout Weghorst doubled the lead minutes later powering the ball into the right side of the net after good work from Dumfries.

Andriy Yarmolenko scored the best goal of the Euros so far to drag Ukraine back into the match with an unstoppable curler into the top left corner from 25 yards.

The scores were level with 11 minutes remaining. Roman Yaremchuk, who set up Yarmolenko for Ukraine’s first, met Ruslan Malinovskiy’s free-kick to head into the bottom right corner.

The scoring was not over though, and Dumfries brought a frantic second half to a close when his perfect header hit the back of the net from substitute Nathan Ake’s cross.

Netherlands meet Austria on Thursday evening after Ukraine play against North Macedonia.

Cover Photo: “UEFA EURO 2020 Trophy, Football Championship” by wuestenigel is licensed under CC BY 2.0