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Iran stun 10-man Wales, hosts eliminated, Netherlands held by Ecuador

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25th November, 2022
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Two goals in stoppage time have earned Iran a priceless victory over Wales after Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was sent off.

Rouzbeh Cheshmi scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to end a tense stalemate with Wales and put Iran on course for a 2-0 victory in Group B.

Cheshmi’s strike from outside the box was just beyond the diving reach of Wales backup goalkeeper Danny Ward, who was pressed into duty when Wayne Hennessey was sent off in the 86th minute.

Ramin Rezaeian added a second goal in the dying seconds and Iran celebrated wildly while some of the Welsh players dropped in disbelief to the field.

(Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

The game was still in the balance when Hennessy was shown a red card, after a VAR check, in the 86th minute for a high challenge on Mehdi Taremi outside his penalty area.

Hennessy became the first player to be sent off at Qatar 2022, and only the third goalkeeper in the history of World Cup final tournaments.

Gareth Bale made a record 110th appearance for Wales, but the Welsh appeared sluggish.

They might have fallen behind earlier when Iran hit both posts in the space of a few seconds.

First Sardar Azmoun raced clear, only to shoot against the right-hand post, then Ali Gholizadeh curled the follow-up against the other post.

Finally, Azmoun headed that rebound straight at Hennessey.

Wales’ best effort was a rising shot from defender Ben Davies, which was tipped over by the goalkeeper.

Netherlands settle for a point after Valencia strike

Ecuador striker Enner Valencia has scored an equaliser in a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands that has eliminated hosts Qatar from their home World Cup.

Friday’s draw gave both the Dutch and Ecuador one point apiece to move them to four points in Group A. It left Qatar out of contention with zero points after losing 3-1 to Senegal hours earlier.

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Ecuador dominated much of the game after Cody Gakpo fired the Dutch into a sixth-minute lead with a rising shot from the edge of the penalty area. It was the fastest goal scored so far in Qatar.

Ecuador levelled in the 49th minute when Valencia passed the ball into an empty net after Pervis Estupinan’s shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Andries Noppert

Valencia’s third goal in Qatar — after scoring both in a 2-0 win over the host nation on Sunday — extended his streak to scoring all six Ecuador goals at World Cups since the 2014 tournament started.

Almost the entire Ecuador squad joined their inspirational captain in a collective goal celebration. 

It created a powerful image of unity as they knelt together in a circle pointing to the night sky at Khalifa International Stadium.

Ecuador almost got a deserved winning goal minutes later when Gonzalo Plata rattled the Netherlands crossbar with a rising left-foot shot.

Ecuador play Senegal on Tuesday, needing just a draw to advance, and the Netherlands will play Qatar.

Senegal consign Qatar to second straight defeat

Senegal strikers Boulaye Dia, Famara Diedhiou and Bamba Dieng all scored to secure a deserved 3-1 victory over Qatar and leave the host nation on the brink of elimination following their World Cup Group A clash.

After Friday’s match at at Al Thumama Stadium, Senegal have three points from their two games and meet Ecuador in a final pool clash on Tuesday.

Qatar still have no points and will be out of the tournament if Netherlands beat Ecuador or that match ends in a draw later on Friday.

Qatar can have few complaints – it took them until the 63rd minute of their second match to register a shot on target, when Almoez Ali forced a fine save from Edouard Mendy.

By then they were already two goals down. 

A howler from Boualem Khoukhi allowed Dia to net the opener four minutes before the break. The defender got the ball caught under his feet as he tried to clear and Dia slotted home.

Diedhiou headed in a second from a corner and Dieng made sure of the win late on.

Qatar scored their first ever World Cup goal with 12 minutes left as Ghana-born striker Mohammed Muntari headed in powerfully from Ismail Mohamad’s cross.

But it was a rare moment of celebration for the home supporters.

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