Belgium 1 Holland 1: Arnaut Groeneveld cancels out Dries Mertens’ volley to secure draw for the Dutch
Dries Mertens have Belgium an early lead before Brugge midfielder secured a draw in the international friendly
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DRIES MERTENS scored a screamer as Holland’s wretched run against their rivals went on.
The Dutch last came out on top in a Low Countries derby 21 years ago - a World Cup qualifier for France ‘98.
And although Arnaut Groeneveld cancelled out Mertens’ mesmerising volley in tonight's Brussels friendly, Holland’s hoodoo in this fixture extended to eight games.
On a high from last week’s 3-0 thrashing of Germany, Dutch boss Ronald Koeman had been looking to put one over Roberto Martinez, who he replaced as Everton manager in 2016.
Despite having both now moved on to the international scene, the pair’s war of words about each other’s Toffees regimes was still fresh in the memory.
But ahead of kick-off last night, Koeman and his Belgium counterpart appeared to have something of a clear-the-air conversation before shaking hands.
And they embraced at the end with a share of the spoils, despite the hosts’ stunning start.
Unsurprisingly, in-form Chelsea ace Eden Hazard was the architect of that fifth-minute opener.
The Belgium skipper skinned three defenders before hanging up a cross which was cleared only as far as Mertens, who lashed the bouncing ball past Jasper Cillessen from 15 yards.
Holland were without their own captain Virgil van Dijk, with Koeman revealing before this clash that the Liverpool centre-half has been nursing two broken ribs for the past month.
But they levelled in the 27th minute when ex-Manchester United flop Memphis Depay squared for Groeneveld, who stayed just onside to finish on his full Dutch debut.
In a wide-open first half, Quincy Promes then struck the inside of the post for the visitors, before Hazard somehow steered wide from ten yards.
Martinez replaced his front three of Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Mertens at the interval.
And on-loan Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi went wide when clean through within seconds of his introduction, before forcing a save out of Cillessen late on.
But Holland also missed chances to win it, with sub Steven Bergwijn blazing over and Nathan Ake seeing his point-blank header superbly stopped by Simon Mignolet.
He did, however, almost give away an unnecessary advantage through careless footwork in front of goal, as Memphis Depay lurked.
