DOHA —
Late goals by
Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen gave the Netherlands a 2–0 victory
over African champions Senegal on Monday on their return to the World Cup stage.
اضافة اعلان
With Senegal
missing injured star man Sadio Mane and the Dutch without their main attacking
threat Memphis Depay at kick-off, the Group A encounter in Doha looked set to
end in a goalless draw.
But with just six
minutes remaining PSV Eindhoven forward Gakpo got up in front of Senegal
goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to head in a floated Frenkie de Jong cross from the
left.
Substitute
Klaassen then secured the victory deep in injury time, following up to score
after Mendy had saved from Depay, who had also come off the bench.
The result leaves
the Netherlands level at the top of the group with Ecuador, who beat hosts
Qatar 2–0 in the tournament’s opening match on Sunday.
Louis van Gaal’s
side play
Ecuador on Friday, while Senegal now face a must-win contest against
Qatar.
Senegal saw
Bayern Munich superstar Mane — who came second in this year’s Ballon d’Or —
pull out of the squad with a leg injury on the eve of the tournament.
His absence was
clearly felt as the contest at Al-Thumama Stadium — played out to the backdrop
of the non-stop drumming and dancing of the Senegal support, but also in front
of a considerable number of empty seats -- never lived up to its billing.
Everton
midfielder
Idrissa Gana Gueye came closest to scoring for Senegal with a strike
on the half-volley from the edge of the box that was beaten away by Netherlands
goalkeeper Andries Noppert in the 73rd minute.
Noppert, the
giant Heerenveen goalkeeper who was making his international debut, also
excelled with saves from Boulaye Dia and Pape Gueye in the second half as the
Netherlands played their first World Cup game in eight years.
The three-time
runners-up were semi-finalists under Van Gaal in Brazil in 2014 before failing
to qualify for the last World Cup in Russia in 2018.
The Dutch team
was captained by Virgil van Dijk, who was making his debut at a major
international tournament on the occasion of his 50th cap.
With Matthijs de
Ligt and Nathan Ake alongside him, they were mostly comfortable at the back but
had created little going forward before Barcelona forward Depay — who scored 12
times in qualifying — came on for the final half-hour.
With Depay not
able to start after spending two months on the sidelines, it fell to former
Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen to spearhead the Netherlands attack
but he failed to make a major impact.
Yet Gakpo finally broke
the deadlock and, as Senegal pushed for an equalizer, Depay played his part in
Ajax midfielder Klaassen’s goal that clinched the points in the ninth added
minute.
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