Rising star Cody Gakpo saved Netherlands’ blushes as his lone goal around the 85th minute helped the Dutch scrape past a very game Senegal in their World Cup match on Monday.
With Senegal pushing deeper and deeper, De Jong had hold of the ball, unchallenged, at the edge of the final third before seeing Gakpo’s run before anyone else on the pitch, and playing in a brilliantly-weighted, curling, teasing cross which resulted in the headed goal. The match was well and beyond Senegal when Davy Klaassen put the ball past keeper Mendy right at the death, reports Express.
The first half of the Netherlands vs Senegal match ended in a stalemate as both sides struggled to find a foothold in the match. Frenkie de Jong came the closest but the Dutch midfielder couldn’t capitalise on a golden opportunity provided to him by Coady Gapko. He tried to cut in, failed and squandered the opportunity to shoot at a goal with no one but Mendy guarding it.
Senegal: Eduoard Mendy, Youssouf Sabaly, Kalidou Koulibaly, Abdou Diallo, Nampalys Mendy, Cheikhou Kouyate, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Pape Abdou Cissse, Krepin Diatta, Ismaila Sarr, Boulaye Dia
Netherlands: Andries Noppert, Daley Blind, Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Denzel Dumfries, Steven Berghuis, Frenkie de Jong, Steven Bergwijn, Cody Gakpo, Vincent Janssen
