Netherlands 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Weghorst's winner secures Euro 2024 place
Wout Weghorst fired the Netherlands into the Euro 2024 finals as the Republic of Ireland's dismal campaign ended with a whimper.
Burnley's on-loan Hoffenheim frontman, whose winner in Dublin in September left Ireland with a mountain to climb, repeated the trick in Amsterdam to secure a 1-0 victory which was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggested.
As a result, the Dutch secured second place in Group B behind France, who put 14 without reply past Gibraltar.
Stephen Kenny's men, who have now won only six of the 29 competitive games they have played under his charge, barely laid a glove on a far superior side on a night when they had hoped to bloody the nose of one of Europe's traditional big guns.
Their feint hopes of securing a play-off berth via the Nations League were formally dashed on Thursday night by Slovakia's 4-2 victory over Iceland with automatic qualification having slipped from their grasp long before.
Callum Robinson was handed a first competitive start for the Republic of Ireland since June 2022 as they attempted to end their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on a high in the Netherlands.
The Cardiff frontman was included in one of four changes to the side that beat Gibraltar 4-0 last time out as he, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea and Alan Browne replaced the injured Chiedozie Ogbene as well as Shane Duffy, Jamie McGrath and Mikey Johnston, who were all named on the bench.
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman made four changes to the team which started last month's 1-0 win in Greece in the midst of an injury crisis with Stefan de Vrij, Daley Blind, Jerdy Schouten and Cody Gakpo replacing Lutsharel Geertruida, Nathan Ake, Mats Wieffer and Steven Bergwijn.
Playing under the closed roof at the Johan Cruyff Arena
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
