The Netherlands cruised into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals after claiming a comfortable 3-0 victory over Romania at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

After losing 3-2 to Austria, Ronald Koeman’s team faced harsh criticism, and as a result, the Oranje placed third in Group D.

However, they were outstanding at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, generating a tonne of opportunities and emerging as well-deserved winners.

“We showed a good reaction from the last match and I’m very pleased… We took a step in the right direction today,” said Liverpool forward Gakpo.

“It’s all about aggression and intensity and defending like a team and I think it was a good step and an important one.”

The standout player for the Netherlands was Gakpo, who gave his side the lead in the 20th minute with a rasping strike that caught custodian Florin Nita off guard at his near post.

Chances came and went as Romania was unable to tie the score, and with seven minutes left, he decided to take matters into his own hands after having what would have been his second goal disallowed for offside.

After a brilliant dribble through a packed penalty area, Gakpo found Malen, who tapped the goal in stoppage time and added the third to make the scoreline more accurate to the balance of play.

“The only critical point was that it took us too long to score the second one,” said Koeman.

“We are Dutch, we have to play well. The performance today was outstanding and that’s why we have a chance to continue.”

On Wednesday, the winner of the match between the Netherlands and Turkey advances to play one of Switzerland and England each week.