SCOTLAND know all about the talents of Patrik Schick after his stunning double at Hampden during the group stages of Euro 2020. 

And the Bayer Leverkusen striker once again played an influential role as the Czech Republic booked their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament with victory over the Netherlands last night. 

A packed-out crowd was in attendance at the Puskas Arena in Budapest to witness the last 16 tie and an expecting Dutch support travelled in numbers with their side heavy favourites. 

There was an expectancy surrounding the Netherlands after their clean sweep of victories in the group stages and the impressive Denzel Dumfries and Donyell Malen looked up for it from the off. 

Just seconds after kick-off the pair linked up as Malen strolled into the Czech final third before attempting to pick out Dumfries at the back post. 

The ball ended up drifting behind for a goal kick, but it was a sign of things to come. 

Minutes later former Manchester United utility man Daley Blind sent a cross into towering defender Matthijs de Ligt following a short corner, but the Juventus star failed to direct his header goalward. 

As the minutes ticked on in the opening 45 minutes the Czechs began to grow into proceedings, and they almost took the lead on 21 minutes. 

In a rare foray up the park, Petr Sevcik beat his man on the left flank before firing a dangerous cross into Tomas Soucek. The Czech skipper launched himself at the ball, but his header went agonisingly wide. 

Schick then had his first opportunity of the match when he arrowed one towards goal from the edge of the box. His effort took a nick off De Ligt and Maarten Stekelenburg had an easy save. 

At this stage the action was reminiscent of a basketball encounter and Malen almost gave his country the lead just after the half hour mark.  

Gini Wijnaldum made a sudden dart from deep to create space for the PSV Eindhoven attacker to drift into, as he was found by Dumfries. From 12 yards Malen had the whole goal to aim for, but a determined Czech backline snuffed out the danger. 

Up the other end the Czech Republic had an almost carbon copy of the Dutch opportunity. Lukas Masopust slipped in wide man Antonin Barak at the right-hand side of the box, but his effort was deflected over by a retreating De Ligt. 

Before the half was out the Netherlands attack linked up once more when Memphis Depay produced a tidy ball inside for overlapping full-back Patrick van Aanholt. The Crystal Palace defender skewed his shot wide and was ultimately ruled offside. 

The Dutch controlled large parts of possession without really testing goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik in the first half, but the Czech number one was called into action early in the second. 

Following a cute flick by Depay, Malen found himself with a free run on goal, with only the keeper to beat. The 22-year-old attempted to round Vaclik, but the goalkeeper did brilliantly to grasp hold of the ball as he closed the pacey winger down. 

This would prove a turning point in the clash as the Czechs hurtled down the other end on the counter. Play was halted as De Ligt was flashed a yellow card for a deliberate handball that stopped Schick beating him on the edge of the area. 

After consultation with VAR, Russian referee Sergey Karasev reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor and judged that De Ligt had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. 

The yellow card was upgraded to a red and the Dutch were forced to see out the remaining 35 minutes with ten men. 

It is often the case that the opposition find it difficult to play against ten men sitting in behind the ball, but the Czechs rose to the challenge expertly. 

On 68 minutes they opened the scoring through defensive midfielder Tomas Holes. The goal came via a freekick on the right and the back post delivery was nodded back across for Holes to bundle into the back of the net. 

The Czech fans were sent into a frenzy and the celebrations were doubled when Schick made it two just ten minutes later. 

Holes once again played his part as he outmuscled Wijnaldum in the middle of the park before careering into the box. The midfielder steered the ball back for Schick, who arrived on the run to slot it first time into the back of the net. 

It was a fourth goal of the competition for Schick and he will be hoping his goal scoring form continues as the Czechs aim for glory at Euro 2020.  

Jaroslav Sillhavy’s side now go on to play Denmark on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Baku.