Czechs end Dutch Euro 2020 dreams
28 June, 2021
Netherlands 0-2 Czech Republic
Czech Republic produced among the big shocks at EURO 2020 after eliminating Netherlands with a 2-0 win in the round of 16 on Sunday evening.
Oranje looked lively from the onset and went near to bagging the opening goal on eight minutes but Matthijs de Ligt's header sailed just wide inside the opening 10 minutes.
The Czechs went close with a chance of their own after 22 minutes when Tomas Soucek got on the finish of Petr Sevcik's cross and glanced a header just wide of the upright.
Jaroslav Silhavy gained somewhat more confidence thereafter and carved out another golden chance seven minutes prior to the break when Lukas Masopust played Antonin Barak through on goal, but De Ligt produced a last-ditch block to deny the forward.
De Ligt then went from hero to villain nine minutes in to the second half as he was demonstrated a straight red card for handball that denied Schick a clear scoring opportunity, with referee needing a look on the VAR monitor to consider.
Czech Republic took full benefit of De Ligt's absence at the back on 68 minutes when Tomas Kalas got above his marker to head the ball to the far post where Tomas Holes was on hand to head home.
The Dutch were put out of their misery with ten minutes left on the click as Holes turned provider to choose Schick, who bagged his third goal of the tournament with a first-time finish as the Czechs advance to the quarter-finals.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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