Daily Record

Dutchbattl­etoget Wijnthatth­eyneed

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GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM led the Dutch charge towards Euro 2020 as his superb double gave Holland a 2-1 win in Belarus.

The Liverpool star opened the scoring with a header from six yards before doubling his tally with a 22-yard drive into the top-right corner.

Stanislav Dragun pulled one back but Ronald Koeman’s side hung on.

Wijnaldum had to stretch to get onto the end of a delicate chip from Quincy Promes for his opening goal.

The Anfield ace then collected the ball outside the home team’s penalty area before unleashing a rocket shot that gave Aleksandr Gutor no chance.

But the Dutch were made to sweat after half-time as the home team pulled a goal back though Stanislav Dragun in the 53rd minute.

It set up a spell of tidy play from Belarus before the more polished Dutch wrestled control of the game away from them for the final 20-odd minutes.

Wijnaldum came close to his hat-trick 10 minutes from time but found his way blocked, only to set up Donyell Malen, whose close range effort was well saved.

The result keeps them second in Group C three points clear of Northern Ireland who are third.

Ten-man Germany leapfrogge­d Holland into top spot after they overcame Estonia 3-0 in Tallinn.

Emre Can was sent off early on as he caught Frank Liivak who was clean through.

However, Ilkay Gundogan fired the Germans into the lead with an emphatic first-time effort.

He then doubled their advantage after a neat flick from Marco Reus, with Timo Werner adding the third.

Mihaly Korhut’s early winner was enough for Hungary as they battled to a 1-0 home win over Azerbaijan to go second in Group E.

In Group G Stefan Posch got the only goal in Austria’s 1-0 win over Slovakia while Przemyslaw Frankowski and Arkadiusz Milik were on target as Poland beat North Macedonia 2-0.

 ??  ?? POWER SURGE Wijnaldum celebrates double in Belarus
POWER SURGE Wijnaldum celebrates double in Belarus

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