Soccer Football - World Cup - European Qualifiers - Group G - Netherlands v Malta - Euroborg Stadion, Groningen, Netherlands - June 10, 2025 Malta players look dejected after the match REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
GRONINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters) -Memphis Depay scored twice to equal the Netherlands' goal-scoring record as the Dutch hammered Malta 8-0 on Tuesday for a second successive World Cup qualifying victory.
Depay converted a ninth-minute penalty and fired home a powerful shot seven minutes later to match Robin van Persie’s record of 50 goals for the Dutch national team. Both achieved the tally in 102 appearances.
Substitute Donyell Malen also scored a double with captain Virgil van Dijk, Xavi Simons, Noa Lang and Micky van de Ven adding the other goals as the Dutch won a second Group G qualifier after beating Finland in Helsinki on Saturday.
Depay’s opener at the Euroborg stadium came after Justin Kluivert was clipped in the penalty area, followed swiftly by his 50th goal for his country.
That proved a much more impressive effort as the ball was pulled back from the byline for Depay to thrash it home from the edge of the area.
Van Dijk made it 3-0 after 20 minutes with an impressive shot from the edge of the area not dissimilar to Depay’s effort while Simons slid home the ball from an acute angle for the fourth in the 61st minute after the Dutch had squandered a plethora of chances.
But they made up for that with four goals in the last 16 minutes as substitute Malen took over the running of the game.
The Aston Villa attacker netted the fifth after Van de Ven pulled the ball back for him in the 74th minute before setting up Lang for the sixth four minutes later with a clever square pass that was perfectly timed.
Malen then netted his second in the 80th minute before Van de Ven, who had been marauding on the left flank most of the game, put the seal on the result in stoppage time with a volleyed strike as Malta failed to clear.
Dutch coach Ronald Koeman left out players who had been booked against Finland because he wanted no suspensions for their next tie at home against Poland in September, whichcould be the key game in thegroup.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in London; Editing by Toby Davis)
