Euro 2020: Czech Republic beat 10-men Netherlands to clinch quarter-final spot
The Czech Republic turned in a resolute display in Budapest to beat the Netherlands 2-0 and seal a spot in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. Goals from Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick in the second-half secured an impressive victory for Jaroslav Silhavy's men.
Czech Republic will take on Denmark in the quarter-finals of the competition on Saturday.
Matthijs de Ligt sent off as Netherlands crash out of Euro 2020
It was a largely uneventful first-half as both sides tried to cancel each other out on the pitch. While the Dutch side enjoyed the majority of possession, it was Czech Republic who had better goalscoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
Tomas Soucek came close to giving his side the lead in the 23rd-minute but his diving header at the near post from Petr Sevcik's wonderful cross flew wide of the far post. The best opportunity of the half fell to Antonin Barak but the Hellas Verona midfielder was denied by a brilliant tackle from Mattijs de Ligt.
Marten de Roon's misplaced pass in midfield set the opposition on the counter-attack. Luka Masopust passed the ball to Barak, who had only the goalkeeper to beat. But Matthijs de Ligt made a crucial intervention and sent the ball over the crossbar with the slightest of touches on Barak's shot.
Frank de Boer's men had a glorious opportunity to take the lead seven minutes into the second-half through Donyell Malen.
The PSV Eindhoven forward showed great skill to get past the Czech Republic defense and found himself 1v1 against Tomas Vaclik in between the sticks for the Czechs. The Dutch striker tried to take the ball around the keeper and score, but Vaclik did extremely well and gathered the ball into his arms.
Just as the Netherlands were gaining a foothold in the match, Matthijs de Ligt was sent off as the Juventus centre-back denied Patrik Schick a goalscoring opportunity with a handball. The Dutch centre-back was initially shown a yellow card which was changed to red by the VAR.
The Czechs grabbed the lead in the 68th-minute through Tomas Holes' strike at the back post. Tomas Kalas flicked the ball towards Holes at the far post from a corner, who made no mistake and slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Patrik Schick doubled the advantage in the 80th-minute to seal a deserved victory for his side. The Bayer Leverkusen forward has now scored 4 goals in as many appearances for the Czech Republic at Euro 2020.
The Netherlands will head home following their heartbreaking defeat against the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 Round of 16.
The Dutch side made an impressive start to their Euro 2020 campaign and were the favorites going into the tie against Silhavy's men, but were far from their usual best and were eliminated by a resolute Czech Republic side.
The Czech Republic will now face an in-form Denmark in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals.