LEIGH, England (Reuters) – Danielle van de Donk’s superb strike gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win over Portugal on Wednesday to move the defending champions top of the Women’s Euro 2022 Group C table.
Damaris Egurrola gave the Dutch a seventh-minute lead with a fine angled header from a corner and they looked to be on their way to a comfortable victory when Stefanie van der Gragt headed in the second nine minutes later.
But Portugal, who had fought back from two early goals for a 2-2 draw in their opening game against Switzerland, again showed their resilience.
Carole Costa pulled a goal back from the spot, seven minutes before the break, after a VAR review decided that Diana Silva had been brought down by Dominique Janssen .
Then two minutes after the interval, the Portuguese drew level with Silva confidently heading home a fine cross from Costa.
The Dutch thought they had immediately restored their lead through Jill Roord but her effort was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.
But a sublime finish from Van de Donk put the Netherlands 3-2 up, the midfielder collecting the ball on the edge of the box and curling a beautiful shot into the far corner.
The Dutch are on four points from two games, level on points with Sweden, with Portugal and Switzerland both on a point each. Sweden beat Switzerland 2-1 earlier on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis)
