Al-Dawsari seals Saudi Arabia's 2-1 win over Egypt with last minute goal

Salman scored from the penalty spot and Salem from the last kick of the game to overcome Egypt who opened the scoring through Mo Salah. Both teams had played their last game of the tournament.

Full-time report: Today's match between Saudi Arabia and Egypt was a lesson in Absurdism. Both teams were already eliminated, and by the middle of the second-half, you knew why. The uninspired display of a football match in the later stages of the game must have had spectators questioning the meaning of the match, if not life itself. But, as in life, the monotonous set the tone for a moment of excitement, and it is only after enduring the ordinary that one truly enjoys the extraordinary. So when, after a rather drab second-half, Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari scored the winner in the last minute of the game, the Vologrand Arena erupted, Egypt's Mo Salah was in tear: the scenes were simply extraordinary.

Regardless of the result, both the teams bow out of the tournament. The match was more about honour than the result itself, this being only the second all-Arab derby in a World Cup. Saudi lined up in a 4-5-1 and Egypt in a 4-2-3-1. Egypt's goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary was included in the starting line-up, which made him the oldest player in the World Cup history at 45 years and 161 days old. The match started and ended at half-time with the game and scores even. 

Mo Salah opened the scoring for Egypt in the 21st minute when Egypt's El Said intercepted a sloppy pass by Saudi Arabia and looped a long ball over the top of the Saudi Arabia defence. Salah timed his run between two defenders, controlled the ball with one-touch and dinked it over the onrushing keeper. Minutes later, he got an opportunity to double his team's lead when a sublime pass put him one-on-one with the keeper. The winger tried to repeat his trick and dink the ball over the onrushing keeper. The ball did go over the keeper's head but besides the net too. 

The final six minutes saw a lot of controversies after the referee awarded Saudi Arabia two penalties within eight minutes. The first came in the 39th minute when Al Shahrani crossed from the left and the ball struck Fathi's arm inside the box. Fahad Muwallad took the spot kick and hit it hard on the left but Essam El-Hadary saved it. The referee awarded another penalty to Saudi Arabia in the injury time of the first half when Salem went down under a shove by Ali Gabrin. Salman Al-Faraj took the spot-kick and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score the first goal for his team. 

Saudi Arabia dominated the second-half both in possession and in the attack. Egypt seemed to be more than happy to just sit back and defend. Meanwhile, the Saudis created and squandered a few chances. Egypt too threatened to take the lead through counter-attacks, but none of the team were successful. The match was coming to a drab end. The Saudis were knocking at the door but couldn't put the final touch to their moves. 

However, drama unfolded at the very last minute. The referee awarded four minutes of injury time and it was in fact, in the 95th minute that Salem Al Dawsari, after a lengthy build-up by Saudi in Egypt's half, scored with a low drive into the bottom corner from a tight angle to win the match for Saudi Arabia. In hindsight, they may have been the deserving winners as they were the ones playing with a more positive attitude and in fact, did dominate the game for large parts.

The win means that Saudi Arabia finish at the third spot, behind table-toppers Uruguay and hosts Russia. Egypt go home, maybe with a sense of under-achieving from the tournament, what with the Premier League top-scorer in their ranks. Although, Salah was recovering from an injury and missed the first game. Almost a month back, on May 26, in Ukraine, Salah broke down after getting injured in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Today, not very far away from Ukraine, Salah was in tears again, but the reasons were different and maybe the burden of the loss much heavier.

Live updates:

Minute 90+5 (GOAL!!)-- Saudi Arabia score!! Salem scores!! And Saudi Arabia have won it. Salem Al-Dawsari drills the ball into the far left corner with the last kick of the game. It seals the win for Saudi Arabia. They will finish third in the group although they will head home too.

Minute 90+5 -- Saudi Arabia score!! Salem scores!! And Saudi Arabia have won it.

Minute 85 -- Yellow card for Egypt's Ahmed Fathi who pulls down a Saudi Arabian player. Free-kick to Saudi Arabia outside the box on the left but nothing comes of it.

Minute 83 -- What. A. Miss. Kahraba is put one-on-one with the keeper from a pass by Salah, who was off-side although the flag didn't go up. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Kahraba puts his shot down the goalkeeper's throat. 

Minute 80 -- Egypt's substitution: Treziguet out, Kaharaba in

Minute 78 -- Substitution for Saudi Arabia. Fahad Almuwallad out for Yahia Alshehri

Minute 75 -- Mo Salah goes on a mazy run from the middle of the park and is chased by four Saudi Arabian players. He skips past a couple of them before being dispossessed.

Minute 73 -- Fahad is chopped down by an Egyptian defender as he looks to burst through the middle after getting the ball in the middle of the park. Saudi Arabia get the free-kick and Salman skies it.

Minute 68 -- Great save by Essam Elhadary. Salman Al-Faraj curls a beautiful cross into the box and Hussain Al Mogahwi heads the cross firmly but Elhadary tips the ball over the bar.

Minute 67 -- Egypt make rare venture into the Saudi Arabian half and do well before a sloppy back-pass header is intercepted by Saudi Arabia. Nothing comes of it though.

Minute 64 -- Saudi Arabia's substitution: Hatan Bahabri out for Muhannad Asiri.

Minute 63 -- Egypt make a substitution: Marwan Mohsen is replaced by Ramadan Sobhy.

Minute 55 -- Free-kick to Egypt to the right of Saudi Arabia's box. Salah stands over it but the delivery is poor and the Saudi Arabia defence clears it easily.

Minute 54 -- After enjoying a lion's share of possession, Saudi Arabia put in a beautiful cross inside the box which Hegazi can half-clear. The ball comes to Bahebri who smashes a powerful volley over the bar.

Minute 51 -- A fine passage of passing play by Saudi Arabia in the Egypt half who do everything right except breach the defence.

Second-half begins.

Half-time analysis: The two teams, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, fighting it out in Volgograd Arena today have nothing to win but their honour with their exit from the FIFA World Cup 2018 sealed. The first half of the match has among its highlights a Mo Salah goal, two penalties, and the controversy surrounding it. The Liverpool forward put his team forward in the 21st minute when Egypt's El Said intercepted a sloppy pass by Saudi Arabia and looped a long ball over the top of the Saudi Arabia defence. Salah timed his run between two defenders, controlled the ball with one-touch and dinked it over the onrushing keeper. Minutes later, he got an opportunity to double his team's lead when a sublime pass put him one-on-one with the keeper. The winger tried to repeat his trick and dink the ball over the onrushing keeper. The ball did go over the keeper's head but beside the net too. 

The final six minutes saw a lot of controversy after the refree awarded Saudi Arabia two penalties within eight minutes. The first came in the 39th minute when Al Shahrani crossed from the left and the ball struck Fathi's arm inside the box. Fahad Muwallad took  the spot kick and hits it hard on the left but Essam El-Hadary, now the oldest-ever player in World Cup, saved it. 

Another penalty came in the 45+2 minute when Salem went down under a shove by Ali Gabrin. Salman Al-Faraj took the spot-kick and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score the first goal for his team. 

Minute 45+2: Another PENALTY!!Salem goes down under a shove by Ali Gabrin and Egypt get another penalty. The referee points to the spot. The refree has made his decision. It's a penalty and shows a yellow card to Gabr. Salman Al-Faraj takes the spot-kick and sends the goalkeeper the wrong way to score the first goal for his team.

Minute 39 -- PENALTY!!.. and saved!! Saudi get a penalty after Al Shahrani crosses from the left and the ball strikes Fathi's arm inside the box. Fahad Muwallad takes the spot kick and hits it hard on the left but it's brilliantly saved and parried for corner.

Minute 36 -- Saudi's Salman takes a shot from inside the box after receiving a cut-back from his team-mate down the left but an Egyptian defender comes in-between and the ball is out for corner. Nothing comes out of the set-piece though.

Minute 33 -- Trezeguet misses two chances in two minutes. In the first instance, Salah lays the ball for Trezeguet near the box with a deft touch. Trezeguet takes his shot in half-volley but it flies over the cross-bar. Minutes later, Trezeguet cuts in from the left and tries a curler that flies beyond the left-hand corner.

Minute 28 -- Saudi Arabia are again dominating the possession after that goal. They have taken a few shots but haven't been able to put a final touch to their attacks.

Minute 23 -- Another opportunity for Salah. He is put one-on-one by a beautiful pass. The winger looks to repeat the trick and dink it over the keeper which he does but the ball rolls out beside the goal. What a miss.

Minute 21 (GOAL!!) -- Mo Salah scores!! His second goal in this World Cup in as many matches. The goal comes against the run of play. A sloppy pass from Saudi Arabia in the middle of the pitch is intercepted by El Said who pings a long ball over the top of the Saudi Arabia defence. Mo Salah times his run between two Saudi Arabia defenders, controls the ball with one-touch and dinks it over the onrushing keeper.

Minute 14-- Better from Saudi Arabia who are enjoying more possession but they fail to get anything out of it. Salem goes on a pacey run and dodges a few defenders before firing a shot from outside Egypt's box. The shot though is poor and the ball sails over the bar.

Minute 7 -- The game has been an even affair, not in a good manner though as the ball is only exchanging feet.

Peeeeeeppppp!!! And we're off.

Line-ups out: 

Saudi Arabia: Al-Mosailem, Al-Breik, Osama Hawsawi, Motaz Hawsawi, Al-Shahrani, Bahbir, Al-Faraj, Otayf, Al-Moqahwi, Al Dawsari, Al-Muwallad.

Subs: Al-Muaiouf, Al-Harbi, Al-Shehri, Al-Sahlawi, Al-Khaibri, Kanno, Al-Khaibari, Asiri, Al-Owais.

Egypt: El Hadary, Fathi, Gabr, Hegazi, Abdel-Shafy, Elneny, Hamed, Salah, Said, Trezeguet, Mohsen.

Subs: Elmohamady, Morsy, Kahraba, Ashraf, Sobhi, Hamdy, Shikabala, Samir, Warda, El Shenawy. 

Trivia: 

--Since joining Liverpool in July 2017, Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has scored 50 goals in 58 appearances for club and country in all competitions.  (Source: OptaJoe)

-- Salman Al Faraj's penalty for Saudi Arabia is the latest recorded goal in the first half of a World Cup game since 1966 (50:36). (Source: OptaJoe)

-- Essam El Hadary has become the 4th goalkeeper to save a penalty on his World Cup debut since 1966. (Source: OptaJoe)

Referee: Wilmar Roldan Perez (Colombia).

Saudi Arabia vs Egypt Line-up

 

Match Preview: Egypt vs Saudi Arabia

With their talismanic forward Mohammed Salah struggling with his fitness following a rather hurried return from a left shoulder dislocation, Egypt have struggled in the two matches they played so far. Mohamed Salah looks likely to start against Saudi Arabia  as Egypt go in search of a first-ever World Cup win in a battle to avoid finishing bottom of Group A.

Playing without Salah in their campaign against mighty Uruguay, the Egyptians gave a good account of themselves in a 0-1 loss to the two-time World Cup winners.

Salah's presence in Egypt's second group match against Russia failed to lift the seven-time African champions as they crashed to a 1-3 defeat.

The Saudis have fared no better.

They were thrashed 0-5 by hosts Russia in the tournament opener, which prompted authorities back home to call for punishments and sanctions against the players.

The Saudis displayed markedly better in their second match before conceding a narrow 0-1 loss to Uruguay.

"We will play against Saudi Arabia to regain wellness and achieve our new ambitions after the early exit at this World Cup, which was a big shock and blow. The team will be at its best against Saudi Arabia and there are no excuses for not winning and providing a better performance," Egypt coach Hector Cuper was quoted as saying by Fifa.com.

"I admit that I found the best reception and best treatment in Egypt, with different views and philosophies, which is normal in football. The players have made great sacrifices and concessions and I thank them very much for everything they have done over the past period," he added.

"We must not forget that the World Cup is our first global experience, and an experience that you can build on. It must give confidence to the players."

Egypt's 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary may have to wait for an appearance off the bench to set a record as the oldest player ever to appear at a World Cup.

Egypt coach Hector Cuper said he would not tinker greatly with the starting XI that were dumped out of the tournament 3-1 by hosts Russia on Tuesday.

"The manager needs a reason to make changes," Cuper told reporters before Salah took part in a full training session at the Volgograd Arena. "We are not going to change our style."

An appearance for El Hadary would smash the age record set by Faryd Mondragon in Brazil four years ago.

The Colombia goalkeeper was 43 years and three days old when he played against Japan in a 4-1 group stage victory in Cuiaba.

But the 158-capped El Hadary said he did not know if he would play.

"I will be very happy if I participate and set the record," he said.

"But it is not certain."

Cuper made it clear that he considered it important for Egypt's future to register a first-ever win at a World Cup and he would field his strongest side.

"We must bow out in style," he said.

When and Where to watch: Egypt vs Saudi Arabia

Time: 7:30 PM (IST)

In today's Group G match, Egypt vs Saudi Arabia match will take place in Volgograd on Monday, June 25, 2018, at 7:30 PM (IST).

Egypt vs Saudi Arabia match will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary 

and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Egypt vs Saudi Arabia match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.