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Argentina 2-1 Australia – Match report, player ratings, fan reaction and more

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Match report

Lionel Messi’s Argentina kept their World Cup dreams alive and well on Saturday evening, courtesy of what proved to be a surprisingly nervy win over an underdog Australian outfit.

The Albiceleste and Socceroos went toe to toe a short time ago.

With confidence high in the camp on the back of a pair of successive victories en route to table-topping status in Group C, Lionel Scaloni’s Argentinians headed into proceedings as overwhelming favourites to book their spot in the competition’s quarter-finals.

In turn, it did not come as a massive surprise when it was indeed the South American champions who went on to open the scoring in Al-Rayyan.

Latching onto a loose Nicolas Otamendi touch inside the Australian penalty area, Lionel Messi bagged the first World Cup knockout goal of his career, courtesy of a trademark left-footed finish into the far corner:

Argentina then appeared to have put the clash to bed to bed as a contest just shy of the hour mark, upon Julian Alvarez capitalising on a needless error on the part of Australia no.1 Matt Ryan.

This came as substitute Craig Goodwin’s speculative long-range effort took the mightiest of deflections, to nestle in the far corner of Emi Martinez’s net.

From here, to their credit, Graham Arnold’s side pushed hard for an equaliser, and may well have found it if not for, first, a moment of world-class defending from Manchester United star Lisandro Martinez, and later a last-gasp save on the part of namesake Emi Martinez.

In the end, though, Argentina did enough to secure the win, in the process booking their spot in the quarter-finals of the Qatar World Cup.

Player ratings

Argentina

  • Emi Martinez – 6
  • Nahuel Molina – 5.5
  • Cristian Romero – 6
  • Nicolas Otamendi – 6.5
  • Marcos Acuna – 6.5
  • Enzo Fernandez – 6
  • Rodrigo De Paul – 7.5
  • Alexis MacAllister – 6
  • Lionel Messi – 9
  • Papu Gomez – 6
  • Julian Alvarez – 7.5

Substitutes: Lisandro Martinez – 7, Lautaro Martinez – 3, Nicolas Tagliafico – 5, Exequiel Palacios – N/A, Gonzalo Montiel – N/A

Australia

  • Maty Ryan – 3.5
  • Milos Degenek – 5.5
  • Harry Souttar – 6.5
  • Kye Rowles – 6.5
  • Aziz Behich 6
  • Mathew Leckie – 5
  • Aaron Mooy – 6
  • Jackson Irvine – 5.5
  • Keanu Baccus – 5
  • Riley McGree – 5.5
  • Mitchell Duke – 4.5

Substitutes: Craig Goodwin – 6.5, Ajdin Hrustic – 6, Garang Kuol – 5, Fran Karacic – 6, Jamie MacLaren – 5

Key stats

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Conor Laird

Die-hard Juventus fan with a love for all things Italian, and a real soft spot for Arsenal cult heroes. Emmanuel Eboue, Nicklas Bendtner, Philippe Senderos... Give them all statues outside the Emirates.

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