The Netherlands finally clicked into gear at EURO 2024 on Tuesday, as they took an assured victory over Romania in their round of 16 clash in Munich.
Ronald Koeman's side struggled to third place in their group but were inspired by Cody Gakpo at the Allianz Arena to take a decisive 3-0 win and progress to the quarter-finals.
Gakpo was in electric form for the Dutch in Munich and his first-half goal took the sting out of the game after an energetic start from the underdogs in the opposing corner.
Despite their dominance, the Oranje struggled to break down a determined Romanian defence. Donyell Malen would give the Netherlands breathing space with a goal with seven minutes to go, and Romania were put to bed when Malen added his second in injury-time.
However, that third goal was preceded by a bizarre incident which saw Romanian keeper Florin Nita forced to deal with a pair of runners which had been left in the penalty area.
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Romania keeper had unusual task in buildup to Donyell Malen goal
Minutes before Malen struck the Netherlands' third and decisive goal, a pitch invader had brought a halt to proceedings as stewards sought to remove him from the field of play.
It is unclear as of yet whether the runner left his belongings behind - but a very different kind of runner would soon cause issues for Nita in the Romanian goal.
With Romania desperately searching for a lifeline in injury-time, the Netherlands broke through Malen, who bore down on goal.
As Malen approached the area, Romanian keeper Nita could be seen kicking away a stray shoe on the edge of the six-yard box, presumably for fear of a Darren Bent-esque ricochet should Malen shoot.
FT: 🇷🇴 0-3 🇳🇱@DietmarHamann having his say on 'runnergate' in the lead up to the Netherlands' third goal #EURO2024
📺 @rte2 @rteplayer https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
📱Live updates https://t.co/ouCPaTS4UL pic.twitter.com/hpD1n3xLg9— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 2, 2024
In the end, by the time Nita had set his feet again, the Dutchman had placed a perfect shot into the bottom corner, sending his country into the last eight.
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, Didi Hamann was in disbelief that such a series of events was allowed to transpire, saying that the lack of care shown by the match organisers was baffling.
What I don't understand...we've got a fourth official, we've got video assistants, we've got a chip in the ball - if it clips the finger of a player we give a penalty.
There's probably ten match officials, there's so many people - how can nobody spot (the shoes)? If there is an object in the box, the game should be stopped.
It didn't have any impact or it didn't matter because the game was finished, but I just wonder.
How can it be that nobody picks up two objects on the field and in the box? If it's 0-0 and this goes in in the last minute...it must affect him. I just don't get it.
Hamann would also point out that the entire Romania team was stationed high up the pitch including the goalkeeper, explaining why Nita may not have noticed the presence of the runners until arriving in his box with Malen fast approaching.
It ultimately had no bearing on the outcome of the game, but the "runnergate" incident is certainly something that UEFA will be looking into in the coming days.
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