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 after 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 the Sunderland midfielder.
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’s victory sends them up to fifth in the table of third place finishers and drops Scotland out of the top eight meaning they are on the verge of an early exit from the World Cup.
The Scots could be sent packing before the weekend if results in Groups H and G go against them. They require a Spain victory over Uruguay and an Egypt win versus Iran just to remain in contention for the knockout rounds ahead of Saturday’s final group games.
Yet even with those result going their way, Scotland face an uphill task of progressing to the next stage of the tournament as they will be relying on specific results from Groups L, K and J.
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