VAR controversy comes to Euro 2024 as raucous France vs Netherlands ends all square
There was incredible controversy in Friday night's euro fixtures between France and Netherlands after the latter were denied a clear goal.
in the 70th minute, France had a huge highlight against the Netherlands. On a counter, Depay’s left-foot shot is saved by Maignan’s feet but popped back to Simons to the left of the D and he laced his shot into the bottom right corner. Yes, Dumfries was offside but the keeper didn’t dive and he was not in Maignan’s way.
Stuart Attwell and Anthony Taylor rub the goal out.
It took them ages but Xavi Simons’ goal was eventually ruled out as Dumfries was standing in an offside position and supposedly stopped the goalkeeper from diving. Even though he didn’t bother to try and dive because there was no way he was going to get to the ball as it was drilled into the bottom corner. That just does not feel right. Typically it is the English officials who have walked into a VAR storm.
VAR had the final say as Netherlands and France ended all square on a raucous night in Leipzig.
On a night where Kylian Mbappe cut a frustrated figure on the bench, stand-in skipper Antoine Griezmann missed a hatful of chances for Les Bleus - who were duly punished before VAR bailed them out.
Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons thought he had slammed home a 70th minute winner, only for Denzel Dumfries to be standing in an offside position.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave the goal before video assistant referee Stuart Attwell took his time reviewing the footage and decided France stopper Mike Maignan had been unable to attempt to make a save due to Dumfries’ positioning.
The Oranje almost went in front inside the opening 60 seconds, the lightning quick Jeremie Frimpong racing in behind, and while he scuffed his shot it was en route for the bottom corner before Maignan’s fingertips turned it round the post.
Three minutes later, Griezmann, captain in Mbappe’s absence, fired a long-range howitzer which Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen clawed behind for a corner.
Ten minutes later, Griezmann missed two guilt-edged chances within 30 seconds of one another. First some lovely intricate play put Adrien Rabiot clean through, he tried to square but his pass went half a foot behind where France’s No.7 expected and he couldn’t adjust; perhaps Rabiot should have been more selfish.
Then, N’Golo Kante, France's best player in their win over Austria, scurried through a Dutch challenge into the area and slid the ball precisely where Griezmann wanted, only for him to fire wide of the post when he should’ve hit the target.
Koeman had decided with his lineup that Netherlands were going to fight fire with fire and back they came, Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo cutting in off the left and firing a 20-yarder that Maignan did well to get down to and beat away. Marcus Thuram then broke the offside trap, but fired wildly into the stands from a narrow angle.
It was end to end, thrilling, frenetic stuff backed by the never-ending din from two sets of boisterous supporters, fired up by one of too few true heavyweight clashes in this group stage.
Twenty-four hours on from England's ponderous struggles against Denmark, it was a reminder where Gareth Southgate's team - for all their excellent individual players and four points from two games - are right now when it comes to being genuine, bona-fide contenders in Germany.
One Englishman drawing the ire of Dutch supporters in Leipzig was Anthony Taylor, the man in the middle, who gave a foul on Thuram when he looked to go down cheaply then pulled up Virgil van Dijk for a challenge on Dembele in quick succession. Griezmann's freekick hit the wall and went behind, where he was pelted by beer.
France's captain for the night - he'd been extremely unhappy when Mbappe had been appointed following Hugo Lloris retirement, as he'd wanted it then - wasn't having a great game, but his stealthy movement was proving a problem for the Dutch, and he was unhappy with a free header from 12 yards, that went straight at Verbruggen just before the break.
This was the first meeting in 10 meetings between these sides to be goalless at half-time and the worry was that if a goal didn't arrive early in the second period, then you might get a situation where they hit the 65th or 70th minute and both settle for a point.
The break seemed to reinvigorate the Dutch. They came back out with a confidence, a swagger, working the ball patiently, playing one-twos, down one side then back out the other. Simons, the child icon now 21 and making good on his promise, who spent last season on loan at RB Leipzig in this stadium, was to the fore with his smart touches and ability to find space, turn and drive at defenders even in tight areas.
