Morocco outmuscled Scotland for a 1-0 win thanks to the tournament’s fastest goal on Friday, taking control of Group C in the World Cup and moving into top spot with one match left to play.
The North Africans, surprise semi-finalists four years ago, were in control throughout despite the deceptive scoreline, bullying the Scots into submission and scoring the winner with Ismael Saibari after 71 seconds of play.
Morocco, who did not translate their dominance into more goals, now have four points from their two matches and will next play Haiti on Wednesday. Scotland, with three points from two games, face five-time champions Brazil on the last matchday. Brazil and Haiti face each other later on Friday.
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The top two teams of each group win automatic qualification for the round of 32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
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“We would have liked to score that second goal to be more at ease, but we wanted to keep them really, really high up so they wouldn’t get too close to our box,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi.
“When it’s 1-0 at the end, that’s the Scots’ quality. But it’s okay. That’s what I said too: no panic, no panic, we do what needs to be done, we defend, we keep pressing. But we played a great match. We lacked a bit of efficiency.”
“We are happy, we keep going. The road is still long, but it was important to win today,” he added.
Morocco completed a total of 601 passes against Scotland, the most by an African team in a World Cup match on record since 1966.
Early goal
The Scots were brimming with confidence after their 1-0 opening win over Haiti for their first World Cup victory in 36 years but were quickly brought down to earth.
Their opponents needed less than two minutes to open their account with Saibari slipping in behind the defence to latch on to a Brahim Diaz through ball as defender Grant Hanley stepped out too early, and he powered in his shot for the earliest goal in this World Cup.
Saibari, who scored in their 1-1 draw against Brazil last week and has reportedly passed a medical to join German champions Bayern Munich, became only the second African player to score in his first two appearances at the World Cup, after Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.
The Moroccans, who saw captain Achraf Hakimi booed by Scottish fans with the player facing a rape trial, came close again when Azzedine Ounahi charged down the left, cut the ball back but a pair of Moroccan players narrowly failed to connect in front of goal.
Ounahi had raised eyebrows a day earlier, saying his team were aiming to reach the final, but they showed they mean business as the Scots failed to get a single shot towards goal until deep in first-half stoppage time.
Instead they had to play constant catch-up with Moroccans pressing, winning possession and breaking through seemingly at will, with Bilal El Khannouss firing over the bar after yet another superb move.
It was one-way traffic after the break with Saibari hitting the post and El Khannouss forcing a good save by goalkeeper Angus Gunn with a glancing header.
Scotland tried to pile on the pressure late in the game but despite some late chances, could not find an equaliser.
“Had we played another five minutes, we might just have had them,” said Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie.
“It’s frustrating. The start to the game wasn’t exactly how we planned it. But we limited them to very little second half and started to play our football. It just wasn’t to be,” he said.
Source: Khaleej Times