The Dutch began tonight’s quarter-final second leg in the worst way possible, as Jan Paul van Hecke gave away a penalty in only the sixth minute when he wrestled Mikel Oyarzabal to the deck.
UEFA Euro 2024 final hero Oyarzabal himself stepped up and fired into the bottom-right corner, with his firm shot just evading the fingertips of Bart Verbruggen.
Now on 14 international goals, Oyarzabal seemingly doubled Spain’s lead with a scintillating finish into the opposite corner soon after. Sadly for him, he moved a fraction too early to latch onto Lamine Yamal’s through-ball, leading to him justly being flagged offside.
The offside flag also took the gloss off a fantastic save from Verbruggen soon after, which came when an offside Oyarzabal put Nico Williams clean through to draw a one-on-one stop.
Following that, the Dutch settled down and stayed in the game up to half-time, and after Oscar Mingueza and Justin Kluivert spurned chances at either end early in the second half, they drew level.
It was a 12-yard stare once again after Robin Le Normand brought down Memphis Depay inside the box.
He too stepped up, marking a century of senior caps in fine style by blasting the ball into the top-left corner past a wrong-footed Unai Simon.
Williams and Yamal could have restored the Spaniards’ lead at the hour mark, with both men seeing shots saved by Verbruggen.
But the former played a crucial role in La Roja going back in front on 67’, acting as the middleman in a counter from Ian Maatsen’s giveaway deep in Spanish territory.
He got into the box on the angle where he was crowded out, but not before cutting back for the unmarked Oyarzabal to draw an incredible one-handed reflex save from Verbruggen before heading home the airborne rebound.
The Dutch badly needed a saviour, and in the 78th minute, Maatsen atoned with a rocket into the far corner from a Xavi Simons pass deep into the box.
With no further goals in normal time, 30 minutes of extra time were forthcoming. It felt like anyone’s game, but with Dutch legs becoming heavier by the minute, Spain’s persistent passing played to their advantage.
And with 103 minutes on the clock, they did indeed take the lead for a third time, when a sequence of classic tiki-taka in the middle of the park culminated in a long ball to the right flank for Yamal to control.
Barcelona’s greatest product since Lionel Messi drifted in and beat his marker before launching a rocket into the far-left corner past Verbruggen.
It was a move straight out of the Barcelona playbook that left former Blaugrana Ronald Koeman stunned in the visitors’ dugout.
That didn’t translate onto the field, though, and the Netherlands equalised once more from the spot, with a failed clearance in the Spanish area saw Simon fell Simons in the box for a clear penalty.
He just about met the bottom-right corner despite the Spanish custodian once more guessing correctly, and it would prove to be good practice for what was to come, as the Mestalla crowd would eventually witness the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Noa Lang hit the woodwork and Yamal was blocked down the middle in an otherwise perfect round of five penalties each, and when
Donyell Malen missed the first sudden-death penalty, Pedri sent Spain through with a rocket into the top-right corner. La Roja duly advance to the semi-finals where France await.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal (Spain)