CHINA 0
NETHERLANDS 2 (Van Persie 11, Snejder 66)
The Oranje strolled to a 2-0 win at ease against ten-man China in their second leg of the Far East tour.
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie’s early penalty and a delightful goal by Wesley Sneijder were enough for Louis van Gaal’s men to proceed their win over Indonesia on Friday.
China played some good football in parts and particularly as they played almost 80 minutes a man down following Qin Sheng’s 12th minute dismissal. The Dutch were a constant threat and after Zheng Zhi missing a glorious headed chance for China, the visitors took the lead in just 11 minutes.
PSV attacker Jeremain Lens cut the ball back to Arjen Robben, who was taken down in the penalty area by Zhang Lin Peng and RVP slammed the spot-kick home, with goalkeeper Zeng Cheng diving the wrong way.
The sending off came soon after as Qin’s eighth international appearance ended in the 13th minute, the midfielder dismissed for a studs-up lunge at Swansea City midfielder Jonathan De Guzman. The referee made no hesitations and showed the Chinese talisman the red card.
The Dutch missed some chances of their own, Robben firing into the side-netting before Van Persie glanced Lens’ superb cross wide when he should have scored. China’s last opportunity before half-time was wasted by Zheng’s woeful free-kick and the whistle went for the break with no addition to the score.
Van Gaal sent on Sneijder among the triple substitutions and his team started the second half on the attack, Robben almost immediately hitting the bar. Sneijder and Lens shot wide and Van Persie saw one effort saved by Zeng before sending another over the top from close range.
Half of the stadium thought China had grabbed a shock equaliser when Yu Hanchao’s low shot, following neat build-up play, went through Erik Pieters’ legs and wriggled under goalkeeper Michel Vorm’s hand but the Swansea City number one recovered to scrape it away.
Sneijder made it 2-0, though, with a skilful backheel after combining with Van Persie and Robben to create the chance. Dirk Kuyt came on and threatened instantly but his weak shot was saved comfortably by Zeng.
There was no more goals but Feng Xiaoting escaped conceding a penalty after losing possession and tangling with Kuyt, who appeared to unbalance himself by unintentionally kicking the defender’s leg.
Another win for the Dutch which wraps up the tour of Asia and now the players can finally hit the beaches for a well deserved break before they travel to Estonia on 6th September in a World Cup qualifier.
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