Senegal produced a ruthless attacking display to hammer 10-man Iraq 5-0 on Thursday, keeping their FIFA World Cup hopes alive and recording the biggest victory ever by an African nation at the tournament.
Needing a convincing win after defeats to France and Norway in their opening two Group I matches, the Lions of Teranga delivered exactly that, boosting their chances of advancing as one of the competition’s best third-placed teams.
Pape Thiaw’s men made the perfect start in Toronto, breaking the deadlock after just four minutes when Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra reacted quickest to turn home Abdoulaye Seck’s headed effort.
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Iraq’s afternoon quickly went from bad to worse.
Defender Rebin Sulaka was initially shown a yellow card for hauling down Sadio Mané as the Senegal captain raced towards goal. However, after a VAR review, referee Anthony Taylor upgraded the booking to a straight red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
The dismissal made Iraq only the second team in FIFA World Cup history to concede a goal and receive a red card within the opening 15 minutes of a match, following Colombia against Japan in 2018.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Iraq reorganised defensively and frustrated Senegal for much of the first half, with goalkeeper Basil producing an excellent save to deny Mané from a dangerous free-kick.
But the resistance finally collapsed after the break.
Crystal Palace winger Ismaïla Sarr doubled Senegal’s lead by calmly finishing Lamine Camara’s cut-back before substitute Pape Gueye made an immediate impact, curling a superb strike into the top corner just 89 seconds after coming on.
Gueye then produced the goal of the match with a thunderous long-range effort clocked at an astonishing 132 km/h, leaving substitute goalkeeper Jalal Hassan helpless.
Senegal was not finished.
After Sadio Mané rattled the crossbar with a looping effort, Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye completed the rout with another stunning strike to seal a memorable 5-0 victory.