Van Dijk, Koeman react to De Ligt’s latest mistake as Man Utd defender puts in another nightmare display

Man Utd centre-back Matthijs de Ligt was taken off at half-time in the Netherlands 2-2 draw against Germany to protect him after recent mistakes.

Deniz Undav’s first international goal for Germany cancelled out Tijjani Reijnders’ early opener for Ronald Koeman’s side.

Joshua Kimmich put the visitors ahead in first-half added time before Denzel Dumfries levelled a thrilling Group A3 clash at Johan Cruijff Arena.

Undav’s goal for Germany came from a De Ligt blunder with the Man Utd defender giving the ball away under very little pressure.

And Koeman was forced to address a De Ligt mistake for the second match in a row after the new Man Utd signing was blamed for both goals in their 5-2 victory over Bosnia and Herzogovina last week .

Koeman told reporters: “Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch. It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished.

“I gave him a new chance today, but eventually protected him by taking him off.”

Speaking of the error, Liverpool and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk said: “This is football. You have to learn from this. It was one moment but at the highest level you will get punished for it.”

When asked about his errors against Bosnia and Herzogovina in the previous week, De Ligt said: “I think you know how I feel… we won… but then comes the individual part. I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that,’ he said. ‘I don’t really know what happened. I should have cleared the ball but I kept having doubts during the play. It’s just f****d.”

Koeman said of the incident at the time: “He himself realises that he was in the wrong position. This should not happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it is unfair to make a big deal out of it.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ten Hag replacement is now a ‘clear objective’ for Man Utd as ‘bombshell’ new boss demands one signing
👉 Man Utd shock ‘proposal’ for Tottenham star who ‘will leave’ revealed; player ‘essential for Postecoglou’
👉 Man Utd team-mates have Casemiro’s decline ‘theory’ as he ‘didn’t sign up’ for this

Koeman’s men made a rapid start and led inside two minutes. Ryan Gravenberch’s through-ball exposed a gaping hole in the Germany defence and Reijnders, who was one of five scorers against Bosnia, raced clear to calmly slot between the legs of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

After Kai Havertz ruffled the side-netting at the other end, unmarked Dutch defender Dumfries should have doubled the hosts’ lead when he somehow headed wide from Xavi Simons’ free-kick.

Germany’s backline continued to look fragile. Liverpool midfielder Gravenberch once again unlocked it, pinging an exquisite 40-yard pass to release Simons, whose low effort at the end of the counter attack was saved by Ter Stegen

The hosts’ hard work was undone during a major momentum shift in the closing minutes of the half.

Undav levelled in the 38th minute, slamming high into the net on the rebound at the end of move sparked by De Ligt conceding possession while attempting to play out from the back.

Man City defender Nathan Ake then departed in distress following treatment on the field – to be replaced by Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber – before Julian Nagelsmann’s team edged ahead in the resultant added time.

Robert Andrich’s delightful diagonal pass to the left was helped back across goal by a combination of David Raum and Undav, leaving captain Kimmich with a tap-in.

The Netherlands set aside the series of setbacks to equalise within five minutes of the restart.

Brian Brobbey, who was selected to start in place Joshua Zirkzee, pulled the ball across goal from the left, leaving Dumfries with a simple finish to atone for his earlier glaring miss.

Former Brighton forward Undav wasted a glorious opportunity to grab victory for Germany when he failed to get sufficient height on his attempted lob with just Bart Verbruggen to beat as an end-to-end encounter ended all square.