Match Summary

England Team

Netherlands Team

What a disappointment for a superb crowd of 82,000, who came to Wembley on the back of watching England's magnificent win in Berlin.  They probably expected more of the same from their favourites but alas, on this night England didn't play well and suffered a rare home defeat to what was a fairly ordinary Netherlands side.

Right from the first whistle it was a very different England performance to that which we saw in Germany.  There was none of the intensity and no real pressure put on the Dutch back line.  The game itself was a poor one.  The England line-up never gelled properly, and there were probably, but understandably, too many changes to the team.  Manager Roy Hodgson obviously wanted to see other members of the squad perform, but at the start, especially at the back, everyone looked shaky and nervous.  Early on, Danny Rose was a little lucky when a late challenge brought down a Dutch forward in the box, you have seen them given before!  England's build up play went back to being slow and laborious, as opposed to the quick, slick passing seen in Germany.  And too many passes went backwards, keeping possession, but also making it easy for the Dutch to defend from deep in their own half.

Half chances came at both ends in the first ten minutes with Jamie Vardy almost bursting through, and Memphis Depay shooting over for the visitors.  England's defence was at sixes and sevens more than once in that opening spell and the passing was very poor.  Fraser Forster had to make one save early on and then Georginio Wijnaldum fired in a good curling shot that Forster had to get down smartly to push around the post.  Overall the match was a scrappy one with a few meaty challenges thrown in by the Dutch.  England's midfield was nowhere near as energetic in this game, but new cap Danny Drinkwater slotted in very well.

Then, on 28 minutes, Vardy almost broke the deadlock after fine play by Adam Lallana and Rose had set him up.  Unfortunately Vardy hit his shot too high, but at least it was better from England.  At the other end Quincy Promes also shot over as the Netherlands looked in control, playing well, quick in the tackle and easily containing an England side who were slow in all they did, as well as constantly giving the ball away cheaply.

To be fair England were trying to play themselves out of the doldrums and both Daniel Sturridge and John Stones saw shots blocked.  Then on 37 minutes Ross Barkley hit an excellent shot just wide for England's best effort so far.  Four minutes later and England took the lead, slightly against the run of play.  It was a goal completely out of character with the first 40 minutes, as superb passing by Lallana and Kyle Walker, after a good dummy by Sturridge, saw Walker's cross rifled home from close range by the ever-alert Vardy.  The Leicester star was delighted and he was easily England's most lively attacker, but it was a goal out of the blue really, a good one nonetheless, and England safely negotiated the final minutes to lead at the break.

A bright start after the interval by England saw Sturridge come close with a good turn and shot which was saved by Jeroen Zoet.  But then on 50 minutes a catalogue of errors gifted the Netherlands an equaliser.  First Stones slipped when trying to turn instead of simply laying the ball back to Forster, allowing Vincent Janssen a clear run at goal.  To his credit, Forster stood tall and managed to get a huge hand on Janssen's shot to turn it away to the right of goal.  But the Dutch came again and when a cross was made it struck a jumping Rose on the arm and the referee awarded a penalty.  If Rose was lucky earlier, he was certainly unlucky this time.  Janssen gleefully slammed home the spot-kick and England felt harshly treated.

England tried to come back but the Netherlands were growing in confidence, buoyed by the goal.  James Milner and Sturridge combined to almost set up a chance but there seemed to be none of the urgency seen in Germany.  In fact Forster had to make another good save before Jeffrey Bruma brought down Vardy as he threatened to break clear.  Bruma rightly booked for that challenge.  A raft of England substitutions began after that but England's fluency did not improve.  On 61 minutes Vardy again distinguished himself by making space and firing in a goalbound shot.  Only a superb tip-over save by Zoet saved the day for the Dutch.  Then as England pushed forward a brilliant pass by Stones sent Theo Walcott in on goal but Daley Blind made a terrific block tackle to stop the Arsenal winger.  Harry Kane was sent on for the hard-working Lallana and was soon winning a corner.

Just as it seemed England were finally getting their game together the Netherlands took the lead with another very controversial goal.  It was the 77th minute and substitute Phil Jagielka was about to shepherd the ball away from danger when Janssen came into his back like a train and flattened the Everton defender.  It was a blatant foul and a definite free-kick, but the Spanish referee, who was close to the incident, played on.  The ball was laid across goal and Luciano Narsingh fired the ball into the empty net.  It was a dreadful decision and something that England didn't deserve at that point.

That goal proved the winner as the Dutch closed ranks and easily held on to what they had.  England could find no way through the determined defence although they never really worked up a head of steam in those closing ten minutes.

In many ways it was a deserved win for the Dutch and a wake-up call for England after the euphoria of the previous win.  Maybe in the long run it might do them no harm.  Some players, especially Drinkwater, Vardy and, but for his slip in the first-half, Stones, did their chances of making the squad for the Euros no harm, and now we wait for May to see who is in and who is out of Hodgson's thinking for the summer tournament.