Netherlands 3-2 Portugal: Van de Donk pearl wins it

Daniëlle van de Donk's terrific finish glossed an up-and-down Netherlands performance, with Portugal unable to pick up another Group C point despite coming back from 2-0 down in Wigan & Leigh.

Match in brief: Oranje pushed hard for victory

Stefanie van der Gragt finishes under pressureUEFA via Getty Images

Portugal were disappointed after having an early Jéssica Silva effort ruled out for offside, but while they looked handy going forward, resilience from set pieces proved to be their undoing.

Damaris Egurrola met little resistance as she headed the Netherlands in front from Sherida Spitse's corner, and Stefanie van der Gragt was able to nod in the holders' second after Portugal failed to clear another corner, though she got a boot in the face as she dived to meet a deflected Lieke Martens shot.

The Netherlands had plenty of chances to put the tie beyond their opponents before Portugal were awarded a penalty for Dominique Janssen's foul on Diana Silva. Carole Costa stepped up to calmly clip the ball past Daphne van Domselaar.

Carole Costa and Dolores Silva after Portugal pulled one backUEFA via Getty Images

Van Domselaar produced a brilliant save to flip a Tatiana Pinto header over the crossbar just after the restart, but Portugal were level seconds later, Diana Silva meeting Carole Costa's cross from the right with a fine header.

Within two minutes, Jill Roord's finish at the other end was ruled offside, and Portugal looked to have the wind in their sails until Daniëlle van de Donk's Goal of the Tournament contender from the edge of the box restored the Dutch lead.

However, if the Netherlands held on to win with a degree of comfort, despite the absence of key players such as star striker Vivianne Miedema and goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal, this was a troubling night for Mark Parsons' team.

Player of the Match: Damaris Egurrola (Netherlands)

Damaris Egurrola with her Player of the Match award

"The midfielder was impressive in the air and helped to give the Dutch set pieces bite, and she also broke up play well."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Derek Brookman, Netherlands reporter

This was an extremely hard-fought three points for Mark Parsons' side. Seemingly cruising in the first half, they paid for their sloppiness and clearly forgot they were up against a team with a proven ability to claw their way back into a game. The excellent Van de Donk proved decisive in the end, but the Dutch will have to tighten up defensively if they are to progress deep into this tournament.

Carlos Machado, Portugal reporter

Facing the holders and recent World Cup finalists was a huge task for this Portugal side, but they went about it with impressive determination: they were competitive, combative and brave. Once again, it took going two goals down for them to find their best form, but they ultimately had no answer to that superb Van de Donk finish. However, everyone can see that this Portugal side can compete with the best. They certainly gave the Dutch a harder night than anyone expected.

Reaction

Mark Parsons, Netherlands coach: "It's been a big couple of days. We lost four players before this game. We keep getting punched in the face, and we keep coming back stronger. We showed great character to come back. We scored an important goal and the defence was very solid."

Daniëlle van de Donk, Netherlands midfielder: "That was very hard. Fair play to Portugal, they did the best they could [...] But I think we kind of helped them get back into the game, which was our own fault. I almost never score goals like [my winner]. Normally, I only score tap-ins. I know where the ball's going, and I tap it in. For this one, I don't know what was happening!"

Francisco Neto, Portugal coach: "We competed, and that was our goal for this game, with courage, ambition, knowing who we were up against. There were times when we weren't as organised as we should have been, and again some small details made the difference. But my team showed an attitude, a determination that leaves me feeling so proud of what they did."

Diana Silva, Portugal forward: "We can't cave in just because we concede two early goals. We always know how to respond and that's what we did. We believed until the end that we could change the result. Can we beat Sweden and qualify? Playing like this, we can beat them and that's something we'll fight to do."

Manchester City's João Cancelo, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva watch their compatriots in actionPA Images via Getty Images

Key stats

• Van de Donk's superb finish was the 50th goal of Women's EURO 2022.
• This was the seventh time that the Dutch have scored two or more in a Women's EURO game; they have won on all seven of those occasions.
• Portugal came back from 2-0 down for the second game in succession but could not hold on for a point this time. They have conceded two goals or more in four of their five finals matches.
• The Netherlands are unbeaten in 18 Women's EURO matches, qualifying and final tournament included (W17 D1). They have scored 65 goals in that run, conceding only nine.
• Excluding penalty shoot-outs, the Netherlands have lost only two of their last 21 international matches (W12 D7).

Line-ups

Netherlands: Van Domselaar; Wilms, Van der Gragt, Janssen, Olislagers (Casparij 62); Spitse, Roord, Egurrola (Pelova 69); Van de Donk, Beerensteyn, Martens (Brugts 83)

Portugal: Inês Pereira; Catarina Amado, Diana Gomes, Carole Costa, Joana Marchão (Kika Nazareth 65); Andreia Norton, Dolores Silva (Fátima Pinto 65), Tatiana Pinto (Vanessa Marques 86); Ana Borges, Jéssica Silva, Diana Silva (Carolina Mendes 86)