Denzel Dumfries headed a late equaliser for the Netherlands to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw with Hungary in their Nations League match in Budapest on Friday, where the visitors finished with 10 men after their captain, Virgil van Dijk, was sent off.
Hungary took the lead on 32 minutes as Tijjani Reijnders lost possession in midfield and Zsolt Nagy’s cross to the back post was volleyed in by Roland Sallai, who had been an injury doubt before kick-off.
The Dutch created numerous chances, but were headed for a frustrating defeat, made worse when Van Dijk received two yellow cards in the space of three minutes, before Dumfries headed in Cody Gakpo’s free-kick to equalise.
Hungary had been hoping for a first win over the Netherlands in 40 years, but did at least end a run of nine straight defeats against the Dutch.
It was a game of possession for the visitors with Hungary trying to hit them on the break, which they managed to do for Sallai’s expertly finished opener. Before that he struck the post having been fed on the edge of the box by Dominik Szoboszlai, with Sallai curling his effort against the woodwork.
The Netherlands had more than 80% possession in the first half but did not create much in the way of chances, though Gakpo forced a good low save from the Hungary goalkeeper, Denes Dibusz.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first as the home side sat back and held on to their lead. Reijnders had only Dibusz to beat but delayed his shot and forced himself wide with a heavy touch to spurn the chance, before he chose to shoot when a ball across goal to Dumfries would have left the latter with a tap-in at the back post.
With the Dutch growing in frustration, Van Dijk was given a yellow card for dissent before a second booking for a foul left the visitors with 10 men for the final 11 minutes. Dumfries’s powerful header from Gakpo’s delivery gave them a point on a night that had looked as though it would end in frustration.
The Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman will not call up a replacement for Van Dijk before the vital trip to Germany on Monday, but was left perplexed by the defender’s sending off.
On the first yellow card, Koeman said: “That moment was frustrating. I don’t understand it. I think we agreed that a captain can protest to a referee. That foul [on Malen] was good for a red card. There was no intention at all to play the ball. That Virgil then takes that second card is not convenient. He knows that himself.”
The Germany forward Deniz Undav scored two first-half goals in six minutes to guide them to a 2-1 away victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina and keep them top of their group.
The Germans, missing several players through injury including Jamal Musiala, Niclas Füllkrug and Aleksandar Pavlovic, were in control from the start but apart from a Pascal Gross shot off target had no clear chances against the disciplined hosts.
They had to wait until the half-hour mark to break the deadlock when Robert Andrich floated a cross for Florian Wirtz who, with his back to the Bosnia goal, fed Undav for a first-time finish. The striker then doubled their advantage six minutes later, poking in a Maximilian Mittelstädt cross. The visitors should have scored more and put the ball in the net three more times only for the efforts to be ruled out for offside.
Bosnia cut the deficit when Edin Dzeko scored with a header at the far post in the 70th minute to inject some late tension into the game but they could not get the equaliser.
“Overall I am satisfied with the performance,” said the Germany coach, Julian Nagelsmann. “We did not allow too many counterattacks. We maybe had too few goals for the dominance we had. But we had to see how much we want to go for a third goal, after conceding one, and having made some substitutions. And we also had to think about the next game on Monday [against the Netherlands].”
Germany lead Group A3 on seven points from three games, with the Dutch in second place on five. Hungary are on two and Bosnia are in last place on one point.
