Van Persie double helps Dutch down Romania

The Netherlands maintained their perfect FIFA World Cup qualifying Group D record, making it six straight wins with an accomplished success against Romania in Amsterdam.

As expected, Louis van Gaal made just one change to the side that saw off Estonia 3-0 on Friday, with Rafael van der Vaart coming in for the injured Wesley Sneijder. The coach's reward for selecting the Hamburger SV man materialised 12 minutes in: Jeremain Lens stole the ball from Romania captain Răzvan Raţ and his cross was cushioned back into the path of Van der Vaart who marked his 105th cap with a fine goal from the edge of the box.

Though the Oranje pressure was intense, the scores could have been level courtesy of a quick Romanian break, only for Adrian Popa to direct his effort narrowly wide of Kenneth Vermeer's goal. However, Robin van Persie ended any speculation about which way the game was going with two goals in the space of nine minutes early in the second half. On 56 minutes the Manchester United FC forward met Arjen Robben's centre from the left to arc a header past Costel Pantilimon; he then registered from the spot after Florin Gardoş had brought down Lens.

The gloss was added by Lens in added time, pouncing on the rebound after Adam Maher's shot was parried by Pantilimon. The victory earned the Dutch a seven-point advantage at the top of the section with four games remaining.