Match 34 of FIFA 2022 saw Senegal take on Ecuador, which saw the former emerge victorious and qualify for the round of 16. Iliman Ndiaye tried to bend a shot towards the far corner at 12 minutes, but he missed the target. It has been all Senegal past 15 minutes of the game. A series of scoring attempts are made by Senegal. after the 20 minutes mark of the first half. Promising attempts by Ilman, Diallo, and Gueye go in vain.
A series of fouls followed throughout the 30-40 minutes time by both teams. At 42 minutes, Hincapie commits a foul in the Senegal box that is almost certainly called by the referee. Senegal are awarded a welcome penalty just towards the end of the first half. 44 minutes in, Ismaila Sarr, the star striker of Senegal, takes the shot scores the opening goal of the match through the penalty awarded to his team.
7 minutes have been added to the first half and Ecuador is still reeling from the goal scored by Senegal in the 44th minute. Ennar Valencia attempted to lead the Ecuador attack but ended up committing a foul, soon after which, the referee called for the end of the first half. Senegal led 1-0 at half time.
The game resumed with the second half as Ecuador began pushing Senegal in an attempt to score their opening goal. Once the timer passed the 60 minute mark, Ecuador desperately looked to score. At 68 minutes, their effort paid off as M. Caicedo scored the first goal for Ecuador and leveled the score in the process. It was the simplest of finishes for Caicedo, who made no mistake while his team created the perfect set piece tha led to the goal. It seemed like Senegal took Ecuador’s goal to their heart as they suddenly shifted gears and just 2 minutes later, Kalidou Koulibaly netted one past the Ecuador goalie to once again extend Senegal’s lead in the match.
Several substitutions were made after 75 minutes that saw key players from both teams being rested, allowing younger talent to try their luck with the ball. 76th minute into the game, Palata tried to score for Ecuador but that didn’t convert for his team. At 82 minutes, Dia came really close to scoring the third goal for Senegal with a shot at the goal, which went wide of the Ecuador goal. A lucky escape for Galindez.
7 minutes were added to the second half and it turned out to be an action filled session. Ecuador took matters into their own hands as they kept complete ball possession throughout the extra time. There wasn’t a single attempt to score by Senegal as Ecuador didn’t let the ball off their boots for too long. Though Senegal had nothing much to lose since they were on the lead, Ecuador did well to not slip them any more opportunities.
Several attempts to score were made by Ecuador during this period, notably by Sarmiento and Porozo, along with a couple of corner kicks as well. However, none of these openings could get converted as the referee blew the final whistle to give Senegal a 2-1 victory, sending them straight through to the knockouts.
Ismaïla Sarr’s penalty and Kalidou Koulibaly’s second-half strike powered Senegal to a famous win over Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup 2022. With this win, Senegal joined Group A leaders Netherlands, to enter the top 16 of FIFA 2022.
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