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Ex-Man Utd star seals comeback win for Dutch

The Netherlands made it back-to-back wins in the EURO 2024 qualifiers after rallying from behind to secure a 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland.

The Dutch unleashed most of the eleven from the comfortable victory over Greece and looked to continue the upward trajectory.

However, the Netherlands didn't have a settled start and nearly gave away a clear goal from a build-up pattern at the back but recovered to clear for a corner-kick.

From the corner, the Irish earned a penalty when Virgil Van Dijk was flagged for handling a goal-bound header and Adam Idah did the honours from 12-yards out.

Netherlands won a penalty of their own after 20 minutes as Denzel Dumfries went tumbling in the area from a trip by Gavin Bazunu, which allowed Cody Gakpo to step up to fire in the spot-kick.

Dumfries very nearly got in minutes later with a probing header at the back-post following a corner, but didn't manage to work the opposite number Bazunu.

Coach Ronald Koeman introduced Tijjani Reinders  for Mats Wieffer before Wout Weghorst replaced Daley Blind in the second half, as the Dutch looked to take full control of the encounter in Dublin.

Bazunu remained under intense pressure a little in the resumption from a few threats involving Dumfries in the six-yard area, but he managed to hold his ground.

Dumfries though continued to be a problem ten minutes in the half when he played in Weghorst to make it 2-1 with a stern close-range finish.

The host looked to claw their way back moments later but faced tremendous difficulty to breakdown the Dutch and evidently slumped to a defeat that leave their qualification hopes in tatters.

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