Netherlands cruise to World Cup qualifier win against Hungary

Budapest, Sep 12 (IANS) The Netherlands made it two wins from two in FIFA World Cup qualifying round Group D with a comfortable 4-1 victory against Hungary in the Ferenc Puskas stadium here.

A double from Jeremain Lens along with strikes from Bruno Martins Indi and Klaas Jan Huntelaar secured the three points with an early Balazs Dzsudzsak penalty the hosts' only response here Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

Both teams hit the mark during the opening exchanges. Just three minutes in, Luciano Narsingh broke down the right wing and crossed to Jeremain Lens who placed a looping header over the home goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

Then Hungary hit back within five minutes when Gera was felled in the penalty area and Dzsudzsak slotted the resultant penalty wide of Maarten Stekelenberg. The parity didn't last long, a Wesley Schneider free-kick on 19 minutes flicked to the net by defender Bruno Martins Indi.

The Netherlands were proving much the more fluent side and it was no surprise when they extended their lead early in the second period. On 53 minutes, a dangerous cross into the area by the dominant Schneider was deflected by Hungary defender Roland Juhasz into the path of Lens who made no mistake from close range for his second of the evening.

The visitors were by then in cruise control and added a fourth with a quarter hour left on the clock when substitute Huntelaar tapped in after rounding Bogdan.