Euro 2020: Netherlands edge Ukraine in five goal thriller

Netherlands players celebrate after Denzel Dumfries scored his side's third goal. Photo / AP

Denzel Dumfries made up for an earlier mistake by heading in an 85th-minute winning goal today, giving the Netherlands a 3-2 victory over Ukraine at the European Championship.

Dumfries missed an open header in the first half, but he converted when the team needed it most, heading in a cross from Nathan Ake only minutes after his team had squandered a two-goal lead.

The Dutch were playing in their first major soccer tournament in seven years. The last time was at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when they reached the semfinals.

Georginio Wijnaldum put the 1988 European champions in the lead in the 52nd minute, and Wout Weghorst made it 2-0 in the 59th.

But Ukraine captain Andriy Yarmolenko curled a shot over Maarten Stekelenburg in the 75th minute and Roman Yaremchuk dived in front of Weghorst to head in a free kick from the left four minutes later.

Ukraine's Andriy Yarmolenko reacts after the Euro 2020 defeat to Netherlands. Photo / AP

Ukraine, appearing in its third European Championship, has only won one match and has never progressed out of the group stage.

About 16,000 fans, all of whom had to show a negative COVID-19 test to get in, watched the Netherlands dominate the match at Johan Cruyff Arena until Ukraine's unlikely comeback.

The Netherlands will next face Austria on Thursday, while Ukraine plays North Macedonia in Bucharest. Austria beat North Macedonia 3-1 in an earlier Group C match.