There was only one response expected from the Netherlands after their opening 2-2 draw with Japan and under significant pressure they came out and produced it. With a commanding 5-1 victory over Sweden in Houston Stadium, Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands move to the top of Group F on four points.
The Dutch midfield were in total control of proceedings and frontmen Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo were sensational throughout.
The Brobbey blitz
Ronald Koeman gave the Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey the nod ahead of Netherlands' leading scorer Memphis Depay and he repaid that faith inside five minutes. The Oranje established their dominance early, flooding forward with pace down both flanks, and the Swedish defence struggled to live with their quick feet.
Cody Gakpo clipped the ball towards the edge of the area and Brobbey finished cooly to give his side the lead just five minutes into the contest. And there was more joy for Brobbey just 12 minutes later when Denzel Dumfries delivered a perfectly weighted cross from the right-hand flank, which the Dutch number nine stretched out a foot to divert past Swedish keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
Gakpo takes over
While it was Brobbey on the score sheet twice in the first half, it was Cody Gakpo’s turn to steal the show in the second half. As Sweden begun to get some joy against the Dutch at the end of the first half, it came at the wrong time. Within eight minutes of the restart the game was put to bed.
In the 47th minute, Tijjani Reijnders played a delightful little reverse pass to Gakpo who slotted home with ease following a neat play between the midfielders. Just seven minutes later the Netherlands and Gakpo had their fourth.
Gakpo hit a right-footed effort from just outside the area and it rifled into the far corner, the PSV forward has now scored five goals in his last seven World Cup appearances and is now right amongst the leading contenders in the golden boot race.
De Jong orchestrates from deep
Overshadowed by the dazzling displays from Gakpo and Brobbey but equally effective, Frenkie de Jong controlled the midfield and directed traffic from deep. He easily found space in the Dutch half to play passes and was the instigator of many of Netherlands' attacks that allowed Dumfriesto push forward to great effect. Koeman brought on Teun Koopmeiners in the 59th minute with the game secured and one eye on fixtures to come.
A consolation and a final blow
With the Dutch in control and Koeman taking off his two star men to give others game time, Sweden managed to pull back one goal in the 59th minute with the Netherlands switching off at the back momentarily to let substitute Anthony Elanga finish off a well-worked counter-attack.
But with in two minutes of coming onto the pitch, Summerville slammed home a powerfully taken effort to restore the four-goal advantage and finish the scoring in this commanding victory for the Dutch.
Next steps
For Sweden, Graham Potter needs to urgently work on his sides defensive frailties that have been exploited on the flanks. The fullbacks struggled and at the end the centre backs found themselves in acres of space at times.
With this result, Netherlands move to the summit of Group F and, in doing so, have extended their undefeated run in the World Cup group stages to 18 matches dating back to 1994.
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