After a physical battle and late drama from Issa Diop, the Atlas Lions survived a Gakpo strike and penalty shootout nerves to send them into the next stage.
Morocco knocked out the Netherlands in this stellar round of 32 fixture as the Atlas Lions go on to face Canada in the round of 16.
The first half was full of aggressive and physical battles across the pitch, from Chadi Riad matching the physicality of Brian Brobbey to Jan Paul van Hecke taking on Ismael Saibari.
Just on the 20th minute mark, Ashraf Hakimi rifled in a brilliant corner towards Neil El Aynaoui, but his header at the near post was saved at point blank range by Bart Verbruggen. Moments later, the ball fell to Hakimi on the edge of the box, but his thumping shot was straight at the Oranje shot stopper.
Much of the half was dominated by the Atlas Lions going forward with Yassine Bounou largely untroubled. However, in the 44th minute, Mickey van de Ven fired a rocket of a shot just outside the box, which was just kept out by Bounou with a brilliant fingertip save.
There was a frantic end to the half with Morocco peppering the Dutch with chances with Saibari almost having a brace. First he was slipped through on goal by Bilal El Khanouss but he failed to control the ball. Then a brilliant set-piece from Hakimi found Saibari but the ball just bounced awkwardly and he was unable to tap the ball in back post.
The second-half began just as the first ended, with the Atlas Lions dominating but unable to take their chances. Twice Hakimi was slipped down the right in the first ten minutes of the half, but both moments failed to yield a goal.
Just after the hydration break, Wout Weghorst and Teun Koopmeiners were subbed on by Ronald Koeman in a slight tweak of playstyle to a much more direct one, and he was instantly rewarded against the run of play.
In the 73rd minute, Verbruggen fired a long ball up to Weghorst, who flicked the ball onto Crysensio Summerville inside the box before it fell to Gakpo, who charged into the penalty area to smash the ball home to make it 1-0. After the personal tragedy he had faced, it was brilliant to see the support his teamates gave the Liverpool man as they swarmed Gakpo, who was clearly emotional.
Not only did the goal rock Morocco, but the substitutions changed the game for the Oranje as they, for the first time in the game, began to dominate proceedings.
However, Mohamed Ouahbi's side never gave up. In the 91st minute, substitute Chemsdine Talbi whipped in an inch-perfect cross from the left towards Issa Diop, who beat Virgil van Dijk in the air and drilled his header past Verbruggen to send the game to extra time. This goal was the Fulham defender's first ever goal for his country.
In the sixth minute of the first half of extra time, Verbruggen pulled off one of the saves of the tournament to keep it at 1-1. Substitute Soufiane Rahimi had pulled off amazing skills in the box with a feint past Koopmeiners, but his shot from close range was spectacularly saved by the Brighton goalkeeper.
The game eventually went to penalties and after some shocking misses, Saibari fired his country into the next round.
Poor tactics from Koeman
Before going into the way they played, a lot of credit needs to go to Gakpo. Under his circumstances of losing a child, you would not begrudge him at all for going home and being with his family. Playing the game, let alone scoring, is a huge testament to his character
After amazing displays against Sweden and Tunisia, it was puzzling to see Koeman change from a firing 4-3-3 system to a seemingly dysfunctional 3-4-2-1.
Mickey van de Ven looked incredibly uncomfortable as the wing-back, especially going forward. But the more alarming issue was how blunt they looked going forward for the large majority of the game.
Instead of using Gakpo and Summerville as wingers to stretch play and allow space for full-backs to cause problems and make space for Brobbey, the two wide men played inside tens. This not only condensed the forward line, making it difficult for any of the forwards to effectively move freely, but also left Brobbey incredibly isolated.
While the back three does make sense in theory as they struggled at times to contain attacks, especially against Japan and Sweden, this system was arguably worse for them defensively as the Moroccans were able to have multiple big opportunities.
Ultimately, Koeman's late changes did have some rewards as Weghorst was critical for Gakpo's goal, but the decision to start pragmatically came at a huge cost.
Morocco needs to be ruthless
Regardless of the result, Morocco were undoubtedly the more positive and relentless side going forward. Until Gakpo's goal, the Atlas Lions found themselves in excellent positions to bury the game but failed to do so.
This has been the case for them in all tournaments, especially against Brazil and Scotland, where in both games they could have doubled their tallies.
However, with that being said, the Moroccans were breathtaking to watch at times with the way they controlled the game and constantly played on the front foot.
