Netherlands 2-3 Austria player ratings: Ex-Man Utd flop inspires Ralf Rangnick’s side to top of Group D

Austria beat the Netherlands 3-2 in Berlin on Tuesday in an incredible afternoon of drama. 

A Donyell Malen own goal in the sixth minute kicked things off for Ralf Rangnick’s side, while second-half strikes from Romano Schmid and Marcel Sabitzer cancelled out Dutch equalisers from Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay.

The result means Austria finish top of a group at a major tournament for the first time in their history, with France’s 1-1 draw against Poland leaving them second, while the Netherlands are third — the latter now have a high chance of facing England in the round of 16.

Here are the full player ratings from the Olympiastadion.

Netherlands vs Austria player ratings

Netherlands (4-3-3)

Bart Verbruggen – 5/10 – Could do nothing about the first two goals and made a couple of important saves to keep his side in the game. May be disappointed with his stature and positioning on Austria’s third.

Lutsharel Geertruida – 5/10 – Lacked intensity and didn’t look up for facing this powerful Austrian side.

Stefan de Vrij – 4/10 – Unlucky deflection for the second Austrian goal in what proved to be a subpar afternoon. Has been solid at the tournament prior to this.

Virgil van Dijk – 6/10 – Did his best to lead the Dutch defence and restore some composure but couldn’t do it all on his own.

Nathan Ake – 5/10 – Offered little going forward for the Netherlands. Did okay defensively.

Jerdy Schouten – 4/10 – Offered progression and inventiveness on the ball but was overrun without it. Lost the run of Sabitzer for Austria’s third.

Tijjani Reijnders – 7/10 – Put in a strong, dynamic first-half performance with some dangerous attacking runs, progressive passing and destructive defending. Ran out of steam in the second half.

Joey Veerman – 3/10 – Misplaced 10 of his 19 attempted passes and posted a 0% success rate on dribbles, crosses and long passes. Looked terribly nervous. Hooked after just 35 minutes to get Xavi Simons on.

Donyell Malen – 5/10 – A strange afternoon for Malen, who was the game’s top dribbler (3) and most-fouled player (4) during his time on the pitch, but all after scoring an early own goal.

Memphis Depay – 8/10 – A much-improved performance from Depay, who was dynamic and electric. Deserved his goal when it came, even if it counted for nothing.

Cody Gakpo – 8/10 – Didn’t see enough of the ball but made it count when he did, scoring a stunning goal just after half-time and creating three chances.

Substitutes:

Xavi Simons (35′, for Veerman) – 8/10 – Livened the Dutch up by some measure. Provided the assist for Gakpo’s goal and always looked to make something happen.

Georginio Wijnaldum (65′, for Reijnders) – 5/10 – Has looked largely anonymous from the bench throughout this tournament so far.

Micky van de Ven (65′, for Ake) – 6/10 – Provided more thrust to the Dutch left flank but was unable to save the game.

Wout Weghorst (72′, for Malen) – 7/10 – Provided his usual dose of chaos from the bench and headed down to Depay for the Netherlands’ second goal.

Austria (4-2-3-1)

Patrick Pentz – 3/10 – Nothing he could have done about either Dutch goal but didn’t make a single save otherwise.

Stefan Posch – 8/10 – A phenomenal defensive effort from the Bolgona man, who posted match-highs for tackles (5) and duels won (9).

Philipp Lienhart – 7/10 – Was doing very well with and without the ball until he was taken off just after the hour mark, likely to protect him for the round of 16.

Max Wober – 7/10 – Definitely a more composed performance from that which he put in against France in Austria’s opener, but still feels like the weak link in this defence.

Alexander Prass – 8/10 – Played a stunning through-ball to Grillitsch in the build-up to Austria’s second goal and never shied away from his defensive work.

Nicolas Seiwald – 8/10 – Started brightly with the ball but eventually had to settle for a defensive role, which he performed excellently.

Florian Grillitsch – 8/10 – Provided the assist for the second goal in what was a classy performance on the ball.

Romano Schmid – 8/10 – Had played just 10 minutes at the tournament prior to this, but sent a message to Rangnick with a dynamic and brave performance. Scored Austria’s second.

Marcel Sabitzer – 9/10 – Took his chance brilliantly to score the winning goal, firing the ball into the roof of the net from a narrow angle. Created two chances and had four touches in the opposition box. Quite the difference from his disappointing time at Manchester United.

Patrick Wimmer – 4/10 – Never really got into the match. Lost more ground duels (7) than any other player by the time he was subbed out in the 65th minute.

Marko Arnautovic – 7/10 – Made his presence felt with a typically bullish and physical performance. Only marked down by missing a golden chance in the 38th minute.

Substitutes: 

Christoph Baumgartner (63′, for Wimmer) – 8/10 – Another brilliant attacking performance, this time from the bench. Set up Sabitzer’s winner with a beautiful pass.

Konrad Laimer (63′, for Grillitsch) – 7/10 – Helped bring some composure to the Austrian midfield at a key moment in the game.

Leopold Querfeld (64′, for Lienhart) – 7/10 – 26 minutes, two tackles, six duels contested and a yellow card. Tells you all you need to know about what his role was.

Michael Gregoritsch (78′, Arnautovic) – 5/10 – Didn’t get into the game.

Andreas Wiemann (90+2′, for Schmid) – N/A – The ‘victory cigar’ substitution at the end.

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