Dutch win 2-0 in Finland to close in on Euro 2012

Published Sep. 6, 2011 8:44 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Netherlands closed in on qualification for Euro 2012 with a 2-0 win over 10-man Finland on Tuesday.

Kevin Strootman latched onto Wesley Sneijder's chipped through ball to score the first goal with a delicately placed flick in the 30th minute.

Finland's Perparim Hetemaj was sent off for a second booking in the 60th before Luuk de Jong wrapped up the win in injury time with a deftly sidefooted finish.

The Dutch - ranked No. 1 - maintained their 100 percent record in Group E, moving onto 24 points from eight games. Finland has nine points.

Snejder's passes produced further chances for Eljero Elia and Robin van Persie, but Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky denied them. Van Persie put the ball in the net from a Snejder free-kick after just 15 minutes, but was ruled offside by the linesman.

Finland came closest with a Kasper Hamalainen lob over out-rushing Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, but Erik Pieters got back in time to clear the lofted shot off the line.

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Lineups:

Finland: Lukas Hradecky, Petri Pasanen (Jukka Raitala, 78), Niklas Moisander, Joona Toivio, Kari Arkivuo, Roman Eremenko, Perparim Hetemaj, Alexander Ring, Teemu Pukki (Mika Vayrynen, 61), Kasper Hamalainen, Mikael Forssell (Daniel Sjolund, 86).

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Jotis Mathijsen, Erik Pieters, Marc van Bommel, Robin van Persie (Eljero Elia, 68), Kevin Strootman, Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Luuk de Jong, 68), Wesley Snejder, Dirk Kuyt.