Netherlands beat Latvia 2-0 courtesy Berghuis and de Jong’s strikes; climb to third in Group G

Netherlands secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Latvia to open their account in the 2022 World Cup Qualification campaign after losing to Turkey in their opener.

Goals from Berghuis and de Jong was enough to see of a Latvia side, who hardly did anything throughout proceedings.

It was the men in Orange that dominated proceedings right from the word go with 24 shots made at the Latvian goal out of which 11 were on target.

Klaassen and Berghuis had the earliest chances to give their side the opener within the first 20 minutes but could not direct their shots at goal.

The Ajax midfielder was again denied a goal as he hit the crossbar in the 28^th minute with his powerful header.

But it did not take further time as Berghuis scored the opener in the 32^nd minute by bending a brilliant 20-yard strike beyond Ozols to make it 1-0.

Depay within 4 minutes of the goal missed his chance when his shot went agonizingly wide of the post.

After Klaassen, it was Luuk de Jong’s turn to hit the crossbar when he too steered his header against it.

It was consistent pressure from the away side with Latvia playing most of the match in their own chance trying to keep out the men in Orange.

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Luuk de Jong finally sealed the points for the night when he made it 2-0 in the 69^th minute by rising highest to head home Depay’s corner.

After a couple of efforts from Klaassen and Depay gone a begging, Latvia finally got the opportunity for a shot at goal but Savelnieks’s shot curled narrowly wide from 12 yards out.

In the 85^th minute, Latvia nearly got one back but Krul deflected the fierce volley from Ciganiks onto the post to deny them.

It was all over by the shouting though once the 2^nd goal was scored but Latvia kept persisting without any sting in their play.

The Oranje’s goal was untested apart from the strike from Ciganiks.

Ozols had mostly comfortable saves to make throughout the match but could not keep out the two important strikes as Netherlands got home easy.

After this opening win of the tournament, Netherlands travel to Gibraltar on Tuesday as they seek to keep the momentum going while Latvia face a resolute Turkey on the same day.