- Dave Donnelly
- Fri, Nov 25 2022
Substitute Mohammed Muntari broke Qatar’s international duck but it was too little, too late as a comprehensive defeat to Senegal sees the hosts on the brink of elimination.
Any result but an Ecuador defeat of the Netherlands this evening will see Qatar become the first host country to be eliminated after two rounds of the group stages.
But Senegal can go into their final clash with Ecuador on Tuesday knowing a win will see them progress thanks to goals from Boulaye Dia, Famara Diedhiou and Bamba Deng.
Dia and Diedhiou struck either side of half time and, though Muntari halved the deficit with 12 minutes of normal time remaining, Dieng crushed the fightback six minutes later.
Both teams came into the game on the back of 2-0 defeats on the opening day, but in very different circumstances as Qatar were steamrolled by Ecuador while the Netherlands just edged Senegal.
And the gulf in class between the sides was evident from the first whistle as Senegal immediately took charge of the ball, while Qatar reverted to two narrow blocks of four.
Indeed, the hosts hardly touched the ball for the first half-hour as manager Félix Sanchéz set them up to frustrate the AFCON runners-up.
And but for some ponderous play and lack of urgency from Senegal, the plan could easily have backfired early on with Ismaila Sarr in particular enjoying oceans of space down the right.
The closest they came in the first quarter was a daisy-cutter from Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye that whistled wide of the upright.
Qatar continued to sit back and frustrate their visitors and restricted them to pot-shots from distance, but disaster struck four minutes before the break.
A calamitous slip from centre-half Boualem Khoukhi allowed striker Dia to nip in and sweep home a first-time shot from ten yards, leaving keeper Meshaal Barsham helpless.
It was just the tonic for the frustrated Senegalese, who never quite found their tempo against a negatively set-up outfit.
However there was nothing fortunate about their second goal, which arrived within three minutes of the restart from the head of Diedhiou.
The big midfielder wasn’t picked up by Qatar’s zonal markers and he peeled away at the near post to send a glancing header flying above the hapless Barsham.
That should really have been it and, like Ecuador five days earlier, Aliou Cisse’s Senegal eased with victory over a side yet to register a shot on target in the tournament all but assured.
They hadn’t reckoned with substitute Muntari, however, as the striker replaced his captain, Hassan Al-Haydos, with 15 minutes remaining.
First, Almoez Ali registered Qatar’s first shot on target as he drew a superb low save from Edouard Mendy, who was at full stretch to push the ball away from the bottom corner.
There was nothing Mendy could do to keep out Muntari, however, as the striker produced a dominant leap and sent a stunning bullet header into the net from Ismaeel Mohammad’s cross.
Senegal appeared panicked by the concession but, as Qatar grew in confidence, another substitute stepped up to settle the tie.
Bamba Dieng had been introduced just in time to see Muntari’s goal up close, but he produced a calm side-footed finish from just inside the box to snuff out any hope of a comeback.
Qatar: Meshaal Barsham; Ismaeel Mohammad, Pedro Miguel Correia (Mohammed Waad 83), Abdelkarim Hassan, Boualem Khoukhi, Homam Ahmed (Tarek Salman 83); Hassan Al-Haydos (Mohammed Muntari 74), Karim Boudiaf (Abdulaziz Hatem 69), Assim Madibo; Akram Afif, Almoez Ali.
Subs not used: Yousef Hassan (gk), Saad Al Sheeb (gk), Jassem Gaber, Bassam Al-Rawi, Musab Kheder, Salem Al-Hajri, Ali Assadalla, Mostafa Tarek, Naif Al-Hadhrami, Ahmed Alaaeldin, Khalid Muneer Mazeed.
Booked: Ismaeel Mohammad (20), Homam Ahmed (45), Assim Madibo (90).
Senegal: Edouard Mendy; Abdou Diallo, Ismail Jakobs (Pape Abou Cisse 78), Kalidou Koulibaly, Youssouf Sabaly; Krepin Diatta (Pathe Ciss 64), Famara Diedhiou (Bamba Dieng 74), Idrissa Gueye, Nampalys Mendy (Pape Matar Sarr 78), Ismaila Sarr (Iliman Ndiaye 74); Boulaye Dia.
Subs not used: Seny Dieng (gk), Alfred Gomis (gk), Moussa N’Diaye, Fode Ballo-Toure, Formose Mendy, Papa Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate, Mamadou Loum, Moustapha Name, Nicolas Jackson.
Booked: Boulaye Dia (30), Ismail Jakobs (52), Pathe Ciss (87).
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain).
Attendance: 41,797.
extratime.com Player of the Match: Idrissa Gueye (Senegal).
