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Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee was the main man for the Netherlands as they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-2 in their opening group match of the Nations League.
Zirkzee opened the scoring for his side just 13 minutes into proceedings.
RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons brilliantly manoeuvred his way into the opposition box and put in a ball that luckily found its way to a lurking Zirkzee. The new United signing headed it in from close range to give the Netherlands the lead.
Zirkzee was at it again just before the break, this time with a superb assist for Tijjjani Reijnders, who brilliantly got around the Bosnia and Herzegovina defence to guide the ball into the back of the net.
Cody Gakpo’s third, Wout Weghorst’s fourth and Simons’ fifth goals of the match ensured that strikes from Ermedin Demirovic and seasoned talisman Edin Dzeko were rendered largely insignificant.
Zirkzee led the line for the Dutch for around 74 minutes before he was taken off and replaced by Weghorst.
Beyond his goal and assist, the former Bologna man had another shot, which was off-target. He touched the ball 38 times and successfully found his teammates with 19 of the 26 passes he attempted. Four of his passes were key passes.
Zirkzee created an impressive three big chances.
He delved into five ground duels but won just one. Aerially, he was required to contest three challenges and he lost on all three occasions. The defensive side is an aspect of his game that Zirkzee will be keen to improve.
Zirkzee shared the pitch with fellow United teammate Matthijs de Ligt, who slotted right next to Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Netherlands’ backline.
De Ligt – who also joined United in the summer – made one interception and one tackle.
He engaged in four ground duels, winning all of them. He also came out on top in three of the six aerial duels he challenged for.
In what was an all-action display from the defender, he had 109 touches of the ball to his name and successfully completed 90 passes.
He connected with two of the five long balls he tried to ping.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Zirkzee and De Ligt will certainly be hoping that their respective performances were enough to earn them starts in the side’s next match against Germany on Tuesday.
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