The Netherlands overcame a very spirited Polish side on Sunday with Wout Weghorst once again their hero off the bench, slotting home with the first touch of his late cameo appearance to secure all three points for the Oranje.
Poland
Wojciech Szczęsny – 6
Made a stunning save to deny Virgil van Dijk but was given no chance with either Dutch goal. Remained focused and marshalled his defence well throughout the contest.
Jan Bednarek – 5
Defended well up against Memphis Depay, but occasionally got drawn into midfield to follow the ball which opened up gaps for the Netherlands to exploit.
Bartosz Salamon – 6
His desperate attempt to block Cody Gakpo’s effort wrongfooted his own goalkeeper which was a blot on his performance, having otherwise snuffed out every Netherlands attack. Especially proficient dealing with long balls through the middle.
Jakub Kiwior – 6
Very steady performance from the Arsenal man, who forced Bart Verbruggen into a big save at 1-1 and defended very stoutly.
Przemyslaw Frankowski – 4
Was run ragged by Cody Gakpo so much, he’ll be having nightmares of the Liverpool man.
Sebastian Szymański – 4
Really struggled to get any sort of hold on the game in the middle of the park. Often a passenger. Replaced at half time.
Taras Romanczuk – 4
Again, struggled in the middle of the park against the PSV duo in the Dutch midfield. Replaced on 55 minutes.
Piotr Zieliński – 7
Grabbed the bull by the horns for Poland, covered every blade of grass and floated in a stunning ball to get the assist for Adam Buksa.
Nicola Zalewski – 5
The wing back was neither here nor there, played well, but never did anything to the detriment of his side.
Adam Buksa – 6
Made some very good runs in behind the Dutch defence that weren’t spotted, but glanced home a wonderful header to give Poland the dream start.
Kacper Urbański – 3
Nineteen touches, no shots and hooked off after 55 minutes – not a game to remember for Urbanski.
Substitutes
Jakub Moder – 5
Replaced Szymanski and added some steely protection in the middle of the park – and plenty of energy.
Bartosz Slisz – 5
Once again brought on to freshen up the middle of the park with Moder, and added energy.
Karol Świderski – 4
Brought on to add a different dynamic to the Polish attack, tested Verbruggen once but didn’t have much of an impact.
Jakub Piotrowski – 4
Brought on for the final twelve minutes but didn’t have any impact, caught offside once and gave away a needless foul.
Bartosz Bereszyński – N/A
Netherlands
Bart Verbruggen – 6
Marshalled his box well and was confident collecting crosses; was sharp to deny Kiwior and Poland on other occasions too.
Denzel Dumfries – 6
The Inter wing-back was up and down the right flank all afternoon, constantly pushing on and trying to force Poland back.
Stefan de Vrij – 5
Strong presence at the back, high passing accuracy but was often caught sleeping by Buksa’s runs. Middle of the road.
Virgil van Dijk – 7
Brilliant performance from Liverpool’s centre-half. Was caught napping for the Poland goal but then had a couple of efforts on goal of his own and was comfortable defending.
Nathan Aké – 8
Two assists for the Manchester City player on a brilliant afternoon, having contained Frankowski on his forays forward while also inverting and driving the Netherlands forward too.
Joey Veerman – 5
Picked up an early yellow card and then had to play safely and within himself for the rest of the game. Replaced just after an hour.
Jerdy Schouten – 6
Had a decent game, battled well in the middle and coped with Zieliński’s threat.
Cody Gakpo – 8
Full of energy and gave Frankowski nightmares with his freakish turns of pace. Tested the Poland ‘keeper early with a good near post effort, scored via a deflection and could’ve arguably had a hatful.
Tijjani Reijnders – 5
Operated in behind Depay, but didn’t have too much joy either going forward or defensively.
Xavi Simons – 5
Off the back of an impressive season in Germany, Simons was popping up everywhere. Delicate footwork but struggled to make a real impact.
Memphis Depay – 4
Not his day. Snatched at the chances he did have, especially when Simons fed him inside the box, but he lashed over instead of hitting the target.
Substitutes
Georginio Wijnaldum – 6
Brought on to secure some experience and some fresh legs. Was accurate and tidy with his passes.
Donyell Malen – 5
Didn’t add the energy Koeman hoped he would – a few clever passes and runs, but nothing too exciting.
Jeremie Frimpong – 4
Brought on and immediately added zest to his team’s attacks but was only given ten minutes.
Wout Weghorst – 6
Scored with his first touch, sweeping a finish past Szczęsny and added a different dimension as a more traditional number nine.
Micky van de Ven – N/A