Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake started in the Netherlands’ 5-2 annihilation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in their UEFA Nations League opener on Saturday.
Ake was deployed as a left-back in a backline featuring Denzel Dumfries, Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk as well.
The City defender ended up on the winning side — thanks to goals from Joshua Zirkzee, Tijani Reijnders, Cody Gakpo, Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons.
So far this season, the £41 million man is yet to start a game for the Sky Blues — potentially due to him missing his side’s pre-season tour of the United States after being handed an extended break after Euro 2024.
Ake has cemented his place as Ronald Koeman’s go-to left-back and as a result, it is rare that he does not start from the off for his nation.
Alongside Van Dijk and Dumfries, the four-time Premier League winner is a staple member of the Dutch defence.
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Despite Bosnia and Herzegovia’s two goals, the Netherlands dominated proceedings.
Koeman’s side had 76% of the possession while also recording a pass accuracy of 92%.
While Ermedin Demirovic’s equaliser seemed like it could potentially spark a comeback from the minnows, the Dutch asserted their dominance and scored four more before Edin Dzeko’s consolation goal.
As a result, Ake had a relatively comfortable time at the back where he was typically composed and difficult to go past whenever there was a threat down his flank.
In the 66th minute, the decorated centre-back was replaced by Jurrien Timber.
Ake captioned his post-match Instagram post: “Great win today”, followed by an orange heart and a lion emoji.
Timber commented on his post with two clapping emojis.
Nathan Ake will be hoping to start against Brentford
The Netherlands are set to face Germany on Wednesday night.
Ake will be hoping to make a serious impression against the Germans, who also dismantled Hungary in their latest 5-0 victory.
But aside from that, the former AFC Bournemouth colossus will be hoping to make his first start of the season against Brentford after the international break.
With City soon set to play against the likes of Arsenal and Inter Milan, Ake would be keen to show Pep Guardiola that he is fit and firing to start in the big games.
Josko Gvardiol surely keeps the Dutchman on his toes and he would ideally not like to be relegated to the status of second-choice left-back at the club this campaign.
