African champions Senegal suffered a 2-0 defeat in their Group A game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Monday evening reports Prime Business Africa.
PSV forward Cody Gakpo headed home from inside the six yard box in the 84th minute on his World Cup debut while Davy Klaassen struck deep into injury time as the Netherlands started their campaign in Qatar on a promising note.
Incidentally, those Dutch goals were the only shots on target from the ‘Oranje’ while The African champions missed injured talisman Sadio Mane who has been ruled out of the tournament through injury after he was initially listed in their 26-man squad.
The lack of cutting edge by the Teranga Lions cost them in the final third until the Dutch late show, making the latter joint Group A leaders with Ecuador who beat host nation by the same result.
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De Jong’s assist made up for an error in the first half, when he squandered a great chance while one-on-one with Mendy.
Senegal twice tested debutant Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert after the break, but they were unable to find a breakthrough in the absence of injured star man Sadio Mane.
The Netherlands were also missing their key forward, Memphis Depay, but he made a surprise appearance from the bench in the second half, his first appearance since picking up an injury in September.
And he was involved in the 99th-minute goal that sealed the result, when Depay’s shot was limply parried by Mendy and stuck in on the rebound by fellow substitute Klaassen.
The Netherlands and Ecuador are level on top of Group A, following the latter’s 2-0 win over Qatar; they face each other on Friday, after the host nation take on Senegal.
The match began with a good tempo as attacks swung from end to end, but neither side possessed a clinical edge in the final third to make the breakthrough.
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