The Netherlands and Senegal are through to the next round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar following wins in their respective final group games as Ecuador followed Qatar out of the competition from the group round.
Qualified as the group winner, the Netherlands were always bound to have it their way against a Qatar side, who have made themselves the whipping team in the group despite playing in front of their home fans.
Cody Gakpo fired home for his third goal in as many games following a sweeping team move, which ended with Davy Klaassen setting him up four minutes before the half hour mark.
Less than five minutes after the restart, the Dutch got their second of the game following a cross from Davy Klaassen, which was headed into the path of Memphis Depay.
The Barcelona man brought it down under pressure, his shot came of the chest of Meshaal Barsham and fell kindly for Frenkie De Jong, who fired a simple shot into the unguarded net.
An instant impact from substitute, Steven Berghuis as he had the ball in the back of the net for 3-0 to the Netherlands, two minutes after replacing Memphis Depay.
However, the goal was disallowed following the consultation of the VAR as Cody Gakpo had handled the ball before releasing Vincent Janssen, who in turn assisted Berghuis.
Louis van Gaal’s side run out 2-0 winners and qualify as Group winner and are joined in the next round by the resilient Lions of Teranga, who ousted Ecuador to book the round of 16 ticket.
Ismaila Sarr got Aliou Cissé’s side up and running after converting a late first half penalty, which he won for receiving a reckless challenge from Angelo Preciado just before the half time break. The winger left the goalkeeper rooted to a spot as his effort rolled into the back of the net.
Moses Caicedo leveled the scores at 1-1 in the 68th minute. The Brighton midfielder was very fortunate as Felix Torres’ header from a corner fell to him, and he was quick to react, sending it into the back of the net.
However, they were not level for long as Senegal were awarded a free-kick on the other end. Idrissa Gueye took it but it bounces off Torres and into the path of Koulibaly, who fired a first time shot into the back of the net to restore the African champion’s lead.
Senegal hold on for an important win, which sends them into the next round as runner up behind the Netherlands. They will meet the group winner of A.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
