A Mario Gomez brace in the opening half was enough to better a late Robin van Persie goal and give Joachim Low’s side a commanding position at the apex of the Group B.
Netherlands’ hopes of progressing through to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals have received a major dent following their 2-1 loss at the hands of Germany at Metalist Kharkiv Stadium on Wednesday, June 13.
The Oranje commenced proceedings in Kharkiv with the same XI that received a shocking 1-0 defeat to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joris-Mathijsen-c19242 at the centre of defence.
Despite their poor performance in the European Championship opener, the Oranje started the match brightly. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 had the first opportunity of the match in the sixth minute. However, the Arsenal striker failed to beat
Die Mannschaft goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mark-van-Bommel-c24148.
The Germans responded impressively through Mesut Ozil, whose volley from range came back off the right post into the hands of diving http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Maarten-Stekelenburg-c22998, much to the dismay of Die Mannschaft head coach, Joachim Low.
Moments later at the other end, Van Persie had another opportunity. However, the 28-year-old striker’s effort went well wide of the target after receiving a pinpoint pass from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arjen-Robben-c6521.
In the 24th minute, Germany managed to break the deadlock through Mario Gomez. The Bayern Munich ace received a neat pass from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bastian-Schweinsteiger-c7374 at the edge of the box, and made an exquisite turn before unleashing
a powerful low shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
After going 1-0 up, the Germans continued to assert their authority, and Gomez came close to scoring his second of the evening at the half-hour mark. However, the Bayern Munich striker failed to connect Thomas Muller’s low cross
from the right flank.
However, Die Mannschaft’s consistent dominance paid them off in the 38th minute, when Gomez managed to score his second of the evening. Schweinsteiger’s pass at the right edge of the box found the 26-year-old, who did
not hesitate to fire home from a narrow angle, leaving Stekelenburg helpless between the sticks.
Van Marwijk made a double substitution at the half-time break, bringing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ibrahim-Afellay-c16547 and Van Bommel respectively. However, the change did not affected a bit on the Oranje’s play,
as the Germans continued to hold the upper hand.
Van Persie tested Neuer with a shot from the edge of the box, but the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wesley-Sneijder-c36799 tried his luck from range, but his curling effort went inches wide of the post.
In the 73rd minute, Van Persie finally managed to find the back of the net to make the score-line 2-1. The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 star took possession at the left edge of the box, before making a delicate turn, and smash a powerful
low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
Robben was substituted in the closing moments of the game with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dirk-Kuyt-c11348, and the highly-rated winger was not happy with the decision. The Oranje mounted immense pressure at the end, but Die Mannschaft managed to hold on to their
nerves, and claimed a deserving 2-1 win.
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