10-man Netherlands and Ecuador fight to draw, injury scare for goalkeeper Valle

[p]Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman changed his side in seven places following Friday's 2-1 win over Norway, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/flekken-mark/INE64p13/"]Mark Flekken[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-vrij-stefan/8Cf0NM4a/"]Stefan de Vrij[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ake-nathan/6LBvaQoh/"]Nathan Aké[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schouten-jerdy/lYVHp6x4/"]Jerdy Schoute[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/timber-quinten/Ag97KtSd/"]Quinten Timber[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simons-xavi/noo0L9zk/"]Xavi Simons[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brobbey-brian/pfAvgQUT/"]Brian Brobbey[/a] all handed starts against Ecuador, who finished second behind Argentina in the South American World Cup qualifying phase.[/p][p][b]The Netherlands, which will play one last warm-up game on home soil in June, got off to a dream start against the South Americans after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pacho-william/KA5AQsy0/"]Willian Pacho[/a] fumbled a low [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gakpo-cody/pWyuBud0/"]Cody Gakpo[/a] cross past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/valle-gonzalo/nFMM2GkQ/"]Gonzalo Valle[/a], giving the hosts the lead in the third minute.[/b][/p][p]Ecuador weren't going down without a fight and were inches away from levelling when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yeboah-john/jHriw9D2/"]John Yeboah[/a] hit the post following a storming run from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/enner-valencia/KELXYJ3s/"]Enner Valencia[/a].[/p][embed guid="8af29704-1840-4ead-a329-349e8f282b08" url="https://x.com/OnsOranje/status/2039055797083099418?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The opening phase went back and forth as Oranje were now eerily close to doubling the score via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/malen-donyell/KOdKXsao/"]Donyell Malen[/a], who hit a wayward clearance from goalkeeper Valle at goal, but saw the LDU Quito stopper pull out a last-ditch rushing save to keep the margin at a minimum.[/p][p]Instead of going up one, the Netherlands were down a man from the 12th minute after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dumfries-denzel/QR0j1ejk/"]Denzel Dumfries[/a] picked up a straight red card for taking down Yeboah, who was through on goal after Stefan de Vrij and Dumfries were beaten easily. The red card also meant an early exit for Donyell Malen, who was taken off for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/geertruida-lutsharel/zwx6dFjk/"]Lutsharel Geertruida[/a] after 17 minutes.[/p][p][b]The tumultuous friendly took yet another turn when Mark Flekken caused a penalty by taking down Eduardo Plata and was put opposite former West Ham striker Enner Valencia - Ecuador's all-time top scorer - in the 24th minute. Valencia placed it perfectly in the bottom corner, beating Flekken by inches and putting the visitors back alongside the Dutch.[/b][/p][p]The Netherlands, whilst longing for half-time, still had Flekken to thank for keeping them in the game after a crucial save that denied Yeboah from handing Ecuador the lead.[/p][image alt="A worrying sight for Ecuador: goalkeeper Gonzalo Valle had to be stretchered off" id="8a2fe106-a243-4ba9-9f96-dc67dad35566" credit-line="ČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Ben Gal" guid="9fd18118-eee6-44b5-9cba-d9b67127a944" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]As Oranje changed to a 5-man defence following the break - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/frimpong-jeremie/SjJ6pCvC/"]Jeremie Frimpong[/a] replaced Cody Gakpo and acted as the right wing-back - Ecuador endured another nightmare start to a half in Eindhoven after goalkeeper Gonzalo Valle was forced to be stretchered off with a seemingly severe knee injury in the 56th minute.[/p][p]The second half scarcely saw either side create chances, with Brian Brobbey's 65th-minute counter forming the biggest threat, but the Sunderland striker was unable to test [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cabezas-david/b9K7EbrQ/"]David Cabezas[/a] as his shot was blocked.[/p][p]With no attempts on target in the remainder of the second half, Ronald Koeman's defensive plan worked its magic against a hopeful Ecuador side that failed to create a single chance, leaving Eindhoven with a 1-1 draw.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ecuador-8tbm8Tri/netherlands-WYintcWb/?mid=2PWJ81Ur"]Check out all the match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="cb26a379-d8fd-4541-a81a-2c39ec979565" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="26c676d6-da05-41de-b570-fb1793b05e5a" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]