…set African record
Senegal boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup with a 5-0 victory against 10-man Iraq.
It is incidentally the biggest victory margin by any African team in the history of the World Cup.
The Lions of Teranga finished third in Group I with three points to climb to fifth among third-placed teams, but they will still need results elsewhere to go their way to secure a place in the last 32.
Senegal played a near-perfect game in Toronto as they looked to bounce back from defeats by France and Norway.
They opened the scoring after only four minutes as Abdoulaye Seck’s header from a corner needed a decisive deflection off Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra to take it past Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
Iraq’s problems were compounded nine minutes later when referee Anthony Taylor sent off defender Rebin Sulaka for pulling down Sadio Mane at the edge of the penalty area – deeming it denial of a goalscoring opportunity after a video assistant referee review.
Mane tested Basil from the resulting free-kick, but Pape Thiaw’s side, who needed goals to improve their goal difference and thereby their chances of progressing to the next stage, failed to register another shot on target in the first half.
But they capitalised on former Manchester United midfielder Zidane Iqbal giving away possession at the edge of the box as Lamine Camara cut the ball back for Ismaila Sarr to apply a simple finish to make it 2-0 in the 56th minute.
Their lead was extended three minutes later as Pape Gueye curled a left-foot strike into the top corner – his first involvement after coming on moments earlier.
Villarreal defensive midfielder Gueye added his second goal with another thunderous effort in the 71st minute before fellow substitute Iliman Ndiaye sealed the 5-0 win, that they would hope will be enough to send them through to the knockout stage.
