Xavi's Netherlands overcome torrid first half to snatch late draw in Greece

[p]The hosts had made an impressive start to this campaign, dispatching [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/serbia/8Kl6iq0i/"]Serbia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/ptQide1O/"]Germany[/a] before facing an injury-depleted [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/netherlands/WYintcWb/"]Oranje side[/a] in Thessaloniki. There was certainly a degree of nervousness within [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/xavi/bs5KnIiT/"]Xavi Hernandez[/a]’s team, and they were given a huge let-off when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tzolis-christos/484Acu9H/"]Christos Tzolis[/a]’ brilliantly taken individual effort was ruled out for offside inside the opening 15 minutes.[/p][p]Tzolis was enjoying a lively start to the game, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] boss Mikel Arteta would have been wincing from afar when the forward was withdrawn with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.[/p][p][b]Undeterred, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jovanovic-ivan/IwbgnsMg/"]Ivan Jovanovic[/a]’s men pressed forward and took a 23rd-minute lead when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ioannidis-fotis/b1pVKpjM/"]Fotis Ioannidis[/a] reacted to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/masouras-georgios/Ma5qH2yn/"]Georgios Masouras[/a]’ headed flick-on, drove forward, and opened up his body before firing home a precise finish past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verbruggen-bart/6PChQYLj/"]Bart Verbruggen[/a].[/b][/p][p][b]The visitors were struggling to find a way past a tenacious Greek side, and the hosts deservedly doubled their lead seconds before half-time when Ioannidis turned provider for Masouras to slide the ball home.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="5ade0f44-0757-4bcf-a73d-b48eb499936b" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="87ab24b9-9b85-40b7-980f-abe71cbd27d1" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]Xavi’s side returned after the break with renewed vigour, halving the deficit a minute shy of the hour mark when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-dijk-virgil/U59RNqOr/"]Virgil van Dijk[/a] headed home from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veerman-joey/AgXeAAQR/"]Joey Veerman[/a]’s corner.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dumfries-denzel/QR0j1ejk/"]Denzel Dumfries[/a] thought he had wiped out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/greece/COuk57Ci/"]Greece[/a]’s lead six minutes later when he dispossessed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/retsos-panagiotis/W6dn3O5H/"]Panagiotis Retsos[/a] in the box, but the defender’s blushes were spared after VAR determined that the Dutchman won the ball from an offside position. Dumfries then had a second goal ruled out when he diverted home Van Dijk’s header from another Veerman corner, with the hosts hanging onto their lead by a thread. [/p][p][b]Just when the Greeks looked to be holding on for another famous win, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/reijnders-tijani/f17EnPl3/"]Reijnders[/a] salvaged a point for the visitors after he rifled home a volley, as the home defence failed to deal with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lang-noa/4YZobWel/"]Noa Lang[/a]’s ball into the box.[/b][/p][p]The Dutch were good value for their point after a dominant second-half display, as they extended their unbeaten run in regulation time on foreign soil to 13 games (W7, D6). [/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veerman-joey/AgXeAAQR/"]Joey Veerman[/a] (Netherlands)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="5a960ec8-88cc-4a25-baab-3acac4db0c92" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="ea8fbbcb-bfeb-4c1f-88e2-83893201df8e" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/greece-COuk57Ci/netherlands-WYintcWb/?mid=UcYKxC0B"]Catch up with all the match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]