Peep peep! That was a very comfortable half for the Dutch. A split-second misjudgment from David Alaba allowed Memphis Depay to ram home an early penalty, and both he and the captain Gini Wijnaldum could have made it 2-0 just before the break. Below is the live text of the first half scenes.
Austria had plenty of the ball and did precisely bugger all with it. Now Depay has a shot blocked after good play from Wijnaldum.
van Aanholt surges into the area and lays the ball back to Wijnaldum, whose first-time shot is crucially blocked by Ulmer. Wijnaldum didn’t connect as cleanly as he would have liked.
Depay misses a great chance! van Aanholt sprays a fine angled pass over the defence towards Weghorst in the inside-right channel. He could shoot but instead guides the ball across the area towards the unmarked Depay.
It takes a slight deflection and then Depay, on the stretch, lifts the bouncing ball over the bar from six yards. It did sit up a little awkwardly for Depay, but he should still have scored.
If it stays like, the Netherlands will win the group and Austria will need a point against Ukraine to be (99 percent) sure of reaching the last 16. A draw would also be enough for Ukraine. Reports that the match is being moved to Gijon are unconfirmed.
Hinteregger tries to homage Giovani van Bronckhorst’s absurd goal in the 2010 World Cup semi-final. It’s beautifully struck but a few yards over the bar.
Get ready for the second half.
