Scotland’s World Cup hopes dented after Senegal thrash 10-man Iraq
Senegal improved their hopes with a one-sided victory in Toronto.
Scotland were dealt another blow to their hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stages after Senegal cruised to a 5-0 victory over 10-man Iraq in Toronto to move into the top eight best third-placed sides.
Habib Diarra opened the scoring after four minutes before Rebin Sulaka was sent off for eliminated Iraq for bringing down Sadio Mane in the 13th minute.
Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr added a goal and an assist, and there was a stunning second-half brace from substitute Pape Gueye before Iliman Ndiaye added a valuable fifth towards Senegal’s goal difference.
Diarra opened the scoring after Abdoulaye Seck had powered a header goalwards which was flicked home by Sunderland midfielder Diarra.
Things got even worse for Iraq nine minutes later when English referee Anthony Taylor, who had initially shown a caution to Sulaka, was called to the monitor and upgraded to a red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Sarr doubled Senegal’s lead four minutes before the hour, making no mistake from close range after receiving Lamine Camara’s squared pass to become his country’s all-time World Cup top goalscorer with four goals, including three at this tournament.
Gueye got himself on the scoresheet three minutes later, just 89 seconds after his introduction, and added another in the 71st minute before fellow substitute Ndiaye – who had earlier earned an assist – blasted past the hapless Hassan with eight minutes remaining.
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw told reporters: “We enjoyed the victory. First and foremost, I want to congratulate my team for playing the game we needed to play.
“Winning this match and keeping our hopes alive meant a lot to us. Scoring five goals is a great achievement, too. Now we’ll have to wait for the other matches to play out.”
Iraq coach Graham Arnold said: “Everyone in Iraq should be proud of the fact that we made it here and we performed very well in two out of the three games.
“It was very tough getting a red card so early in the game and we were playing against Senegal, who are 12th or 13th in the world. When you make those kind of mistakes you get punished.”