Tag: Donyell Malen

Donyell Malen hit a hat-trick as Roma revived their fading European hopes by cruising past Serie A’s bottom club, Pisa, 3-0 on Friday.

Roma, thrashed by runaway leaders Inter Milan in the last round, regained ground in the race for a top-four place.

“We had a great reaction, and it wasn’t easy because the second half in Milan was very disappointing,” said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

His team moved level with Juventus, who are in fifth place, and one point behind Como in fourth. Como host Inter on Sunday. Juventus visit seventh-place Atalanta on Saturday.

“We’re still there, and now we should be rooting for Atalanta and Inter. We’re giving it our all to reach the Champions League,” said Gasperini.

Pisa remained anchored to the foot of the table.

Malen scored with all three of host Roma’s shots on goal as he took his total to 10 in 12 Serie A appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa in January.

In the third minute, two visiting players had a chance to intercept a Roma punt forward, but Antonio Caracciolo could only knee the ball into Malen’s pass.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The Dutch attacker sidestepped one more defender before firing home.

“Serie A matches are never easy; they become so if you break the deadlock after three minutes,” said Gasperini.

Lorenzo Pellegrini hit the angle of post and bar with a free kick before helping set up Malen’s second in the 43rd minute.

After Pisa repeatedly failed to clear, Devyne Rensch, who has yet to score in Serie A, picked up a loose ball in the box, played a one-two with Pellegrini and then poked a pass to Malen, who rolled in from close range.

Malen completed his hat-trick after 51 minutes, running onto a through pass from Matias Soule, turning away from two defenders and driving the ball home.

“He’s incredibly valuable,” said Gasperini of Malen.

“But if you play for Borussia Dortmund and in the Premier League as a young player, you’re bound to have significant resources.

“The central striker role was the key to convincing him to come to Roma.”

READ: Lahore Qalandars suffer major blow ahead of Peshawar Zalmi clash

The Netherlands swept into the Euro 2024 quarter-final as Donyell Malen scored twice in a 3-0 win over Romania in the Last 16 on Tuesday.

Cody Gakpo gave the Dutch an early lead but they were unable to convert pressure into a crucial second goal until the Liverpool forward set up Malen with seven minutes remaining in Munich.

Romania were gritty but outclassed, lacking the quality to punish their opponents’ profligacy before Malen added his second on the counter in stoppage-time.

The victory put the Netherlands on course for a Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with Turkey or Austria.

“We played a good game. I’m very pleased. Especially after the last game we needed a reaction and today was a good step in the right direction,” Gakpo said.

“We talked a lot about the aggression, the intensity and defending like a team. It was a good step.

“Sacrifice something for each other and work really hard to be at your best. Good game overall.”

Ronald Koeman’s side will need to improve their effectiveness in front of goal should they wish to emulate their manager, who was a player for the Dutch when they won the 1988 Euros on German soil.

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

“We are Dutch, we have to play well. The performance today was outstanding and that’s why we have a chance to continue,” added the 61-year-old coach.

“This is the level we need. If we drop our level, we won’t make the final.”

Romania coach Edward Iordanescu said his team “tried to surprise the Netherlands today and it worked — until the 20th minute,” but added he saw “good things that can inspire us for the future”.

Prior to the game, Netherlands’ captain Virgil van Dijk said his side lacked energy and the “will to win” in the loss to Austria in the group stage of Euro 2024.

But the Dutch were still strangely flat in the early stages despite Van Dijk’s rallying cry.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Group E winners Romania, whose 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their opening game, was just their second-ever win in the Euros, pinned the Dutch back early.

Romania went close when Dennis Man latched onto a superb diagonal ball from Nicolae Stanciu, but the Parma winger blasted over.

The Dutch broke Romania’s momentum shortly after when Gakpo got on the end of a sweeping move to open the scoring on 20 minutes.

Jerdy Schouten sliced a perfect, long pass through the midfield to Xavi Simons, who found Gakpo on the left flank.

Gakpo eluded Andrei Ratiu and seemed to catch goalkeeper Florin Nita off-guard, blasting in at the near post.

The goal ignited a period of Dutch dominance, Stefan de Vrij heading inches wide five minutes later.

The Netherlands wasted a perfect chance to double their lead with half-time approaching when Denzel Dumfries picked Bogdan Racovitan’s pocket and found Simons, who got tangled up and failed to get a decent shot away.

Koeman’s team squandered an array of opportunities early in the second half.

Memphis Depay and Van Dijk went agonisingly close before Gakpo’s second was ruled out by VAR for offside.

With every missed chance, the nerves in the Dutch camp seemed to grow, but Romania lacked the quality to truly punish them.

Gakpo, the player of the match, took matters into his own hands with seven minutes remaining, dribbling through a crowded penalty area and finding Malen who tapped home.

“We work very hard with each other to do our best and I’m happy I could assist Donnie with his goal today,” Gakpo said.

With Romania launching a final attack, Malen broke through on the counter and slid the ball into the goal in the fourth minute of stoppage-time to seal the victory.

The 93rd-minute goal meant substitute Malen was the first Dutch player to score at least two goals in a Euros knock-out tie since Marc Overmars and Patrick Kluivert in a 6-1 win against Yugoslavia in 2000.

READ: David Miller breaks silence on T20I retirement