Greece lost 0-1 against the Netherlands in their quest to qualify for Euro 2024, after a late Van Dijk penalty, Poyet red carded and automatic qualification was out of our hands.
The Netherlands looked to have stumbled again in their hope of qualifying for Euro 2024, but captain Virgil van Dijk came to their late rescue as his penalty earned them a scrappy 1-0 win over Greece in Athens.
In a low-key affair where clear-cut chances were at an all-time low, Ronald Koeman's Oranje controlled much of the game's proceedings, but just could not break down the resolute home defence.
The game's big highlight was a missed penalty just shy of the half-hour, as Wout Weghorst, the ex-Manchester United striker, struck his spot-kick tamely to Odysseas Vlachodimos' left, giving the Greek goalkeeper an easy save to keep the scoreline unharmed.
Greece, managed by former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet, switched between a back five and back four, looking to get their talisman Kostas Tsimikas, the Liverpool left-back, high and wide to create crossing opportunities for Fotis Ioannidis and other box-crashers to attack.
Giorgos Masouras, the Greek right-winger, had scored five goals in seven Euro 2024 qualifiers before this game, but couldn't get into the encounter, marshalled well by the experienced Nathan Ake.
AC Milan midfielder Tijani Reijnders had three strikes from range all come close to the target; the second - a dipping effort - scooped clear by Vlachodimos, and Steven Bergwijn also forced a save from the Nottingham Forest shot-stopper as the Dutch's profligacy proved their downfall.
Xavi Simons missed a gilt-edged opportunity on 53 minutes as he side-footed wide after working a yard of space in a congested Greek penalty area, as the game threatened to peter out.
That was until Vangelis Pavlidis, the AZ Alkmaar striker sent on by Poyet to score the winner for Greece, felled Denzel Dumfries in the last minute, and the referee Alejandro Hernandez pointed to the spot after a long VAR deliberation.
Van Dijk stepped up to avenge Weghorst's earlier miss from 12 yards, sending Vlachodimos the wrong way, and sparing the Dutch's blushes as they take control of their qualification destiny.
