Keen to right the wrongs of the France defeat, England made a bright start and created the first chance after four minutes when Lauren Hemp dug out a cross that Lauren James headed wide.
Hemp’s delivery was on show again five minutes later, but this time Alessia Russo failed to hit the target from a perfect position.
English pressure finally told midway through the half as a drilled pass from goalkeeper Hannah Hampton found Russo, and despite being forced wide, she picked out James, who cut inside and powered the ball home from just inside the box.
The Dutch had scored at least once before the break in their last three matches, but other than a wayward Jill Roord effort after 25 minutes, they created nothing before the break.
The Lionesses continued to utilise the wings, with Hemp heading wide from a Keira Walsh ball from the left, before Russo forced a save from Daphne van Domselaar after an Alex Greenwood centre.
The second goal came in first-half stoppage time, when a half-cleared free-kick was tapped down by Russo to Georgia Stanway, whose drilled strike from range deflected past Van Domselaar and into the bottom corner.
Andries Jonker made a triple change at the break, and it appeared to have backfired within minutes when Russo headed in a Greenwood cross, only for the offside flag to spare the Oranje.
But the officials would not come to the Netherlands’ aid just before the hour mark, when a sliced shot from Ella Toone was blocked and fell kindly for James, who rolled in her second with the goalkeeper committed.
Sarina Wiegmann’s side sealed the win over her former charges with a quarter of the game to go, as Russo added her third assist.
Having chased a long ball, she waited for the support of Toone to arrive, and shrugged off laboured challenges before guiding in number four.
The goal Russo perhaps deserved was denied by a fine Van Domselaar save late on, as England avoided back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2021 in fine style.
A win over Wales will likely guarantee their place in the quarter-finals, while a third loss in 14 means the Dutch will have to take something from their final game against France.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Lauren James (England)
