African champions Senegal suffered a heart-break in their FIFA World Cup group stage opener after a 2-0 loss to Netherlands on Monday evening.
Senegal were without talisman Sadio Mane, as Krepin Diatta took his place alongside Ismaila Sarr and Boulaye Dia.
The Dutch, however, had Memphis Depay on the bench after a hamstring injury kept him out of action since September while skipper Virgil van Dijk made his first appearance in a major tournament for the Oranje.
The game got off to a bright start and Louis van Gaal's charges carved out the first opening on 19 minutes after Frenkie de Jong latched onto a through ball in the box but he dilly-dallied before his shot was blocked.
As the game opened up, Sarr almost put Senegal ahead five minutes later with a curling shot that was headed away from danger by Van Dijk.
However, Netherlands had the momentum towards the end of the first stanza as Steven Berghuis came close to breaking the deadlock with a dipping strike from the edge of the box that sailed slightly over the crossbar.
The Dutch continued where they left off early in the second stanza as Van Dijk had a chance with a towering header from a corner that sailed just over the top.
With the Lions of Teranga hard to break down though, Van Gaal eventually brought on Depay in place of Vincent Janssen to give the African champions something to think about.
However, Aliou Cisse's troops had a burst of pace on a counter-attack just after that as Dia went through on goal and forced a first save out of goalkeeper Andries Noppert at the near post.
Cisse looked for fresh legs in attack in the last 14 minutes as he gave Nicolas Jackson his debut in place of Diatta to continue with their pace on transitions.
The Dutch eventually found the breakthrough in the last five minutes after Cody Gakpo attacked De Jong's curling cross ahead of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and his towering header nestled into an empty net.
Pape Gueye almost pulled the Lions of Teranga level immediately after that with a snap shot that drew an out-stretched save from Noppert.
Senegal had time to rescue the game with eight minutes of added time but the Oranje defended high up the pitch.
The Dutch were rewarded after Davy Klaassen sealed the deal with a low strike from a rebound after Mendy parried Depay's shot on his path.
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