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FULL-TIME 2018 runners-up Croatia finishes third after a 2-1 win against Morocco. The Atlas Lions’ frontline was excellent but it is their defense that let them down with constant errors. Croatia meanwhile, capitalised on those mistakes and scored goals at the right time. Morocco came so close to scoring in the dying minutes of the added time but En Nesyri’s header went wide.
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90+6’ CLOSEE!!!!! Morocco got its one last chance at equalising as En Nesyri got a lofted ball inside the box. He tries to head it but the ball lands on top of the net!!!
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90’ Six added minutes
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90’ Hakimi runs into the final third on the right and whips out a lofted cross. The ball finds a couple of Moroccan players but goes out eventually. Morocco players surround the match official as they felt it was a handball but a quick VAR check said otherwise
- 87’ WHAT A CHANCE!! Superb run from Kovacic as he gets the ball inside the box. He shoots but it goes just wide!
- 85’ YELLOW CARD Amallah challenges for the ball with Pasalic and the referee awards a free kick for Croatia. Following a arguement, Amallah is booked
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81’ Petkovic leads the Croatian attack yet again. He gets the ball into the penalty box on the left and tries to cross it but Benoun puts in a timely slide tackle
- 76’ WHAT A SAVE!!! Livakovic it is! En Nesyri gets the ball inside the box in close quarters and lets out a shot but Livakovic ducks to block it
- 74’ Petkovic lets out a brilliant through ball as Gvardiol gets the ball inside the box before falling down. The referee decides to let the game continue and a Morocco counter begins.
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70’ Morocco is letting Croatia have the ball and that could prove dangerous. That is exactly what has happened here. Petkovic outside the box, lets one fly and it goes very close to the crossbar
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69’ YELLOW CARD Ounahi is booked for protesting against a free-kick
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68’ Forced substitution for Morocco Yet another player is injured. Amallah replaces Yamiq as the latter suffered a hamstring injury
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66’ Substitutions for Croatia Livaja OUT, Pasalic IN; Majer OUT, Petkovic IN
- 64’ Substitutions for Morocco Dari OUT, Benoun IN; Boufal OUT, Zaroury IN
- 63’ Attack brews for Croatia on the left. Gvardiol puts a well thought backheel to find Majer who runs into the final third before putting a through ball towards Livaja but it is intercepted
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61’ Substitution for Croatia Kramaric OUT, Vlasic IN
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59’ Looks like Kramaric has pulled his hamstring. The Croatian forward walks weeping as he will not be able to continue playing. Croatia is currently playing with 10 players
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Ounahi – A force to reckon with Morocco’s Ounahi has completed 77 per cent of his attempted take-ons at the 2022 World Cup (10/13), the highest rate of any player to attempt at least 10.
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55’ Substitution for Morocco Bilal El Khannous OUT, Azzedine Ounahi IN
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53’ Morocco’s defense is tested time and again by the Croatian frontline. Kovacic does well inside the box and puts in a through ball to find Majer deep inside but Bono gets control of the ball after a bit of struggle from the defense
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51’ Lovely bit of football from Croatia. Modric initiates the attack from the Croatia half and finds Stanisic in the middle. The latter then whips out a dangerous long ball and finds Kramaric but Yamiq intercepts in time
- 47’ SO CLOSE!!! Space from the Moroccan defense leads to a Croatian attack on the left. Orsic gets the ball outside the box and lets it fly but it brushes past the net after a deflection from Amarbat
- Second-half begins Morocco starts this time and will look to keep playing the way it played in the previous half
- HALF-TIME An eventful first 45 minutes come to an end. Morocco, even though being the better looking team this half, is trailing after Orsic’s stunner right before the half time whistle blew.
- 45+1’ Gvardiol’s miscues a header deep inside the Croatian half, En Nesyri tries to get to the ball but Livakovic rushes in to collect it
- 45’ Two added minutes
- 42’ GOAAALLLLL CROATIA TAKES THE LEAD AND IN SOME STYLE!! ORSIC scores a stunner from the edge of the box as the ball hits the crossbar and goes inside the goal
- 40’ Ziyech makes a brilliant run in the middle, skipping past three defenders and digs out a long ranger but the ball goes out without troubling Livakovic
- 39’ Modric gets the ball deep inside the left flank but Yamiq marks him to perfection
- 37’ Corner for Morocco and Ziyech takes it. His lofted ball finds En Nesyri’s head but the ball goes agonisingly close to the goal post! Morocco deserves to take the lead for the kind of football it has played for the past 15 minutes
- 35’ Free kick for Morocco as Gvardiol pushes Sabiri down. Ziyech takes the kick as usual and puts in a searching lob ball but it is headed away
- 33’ SO CLOSE!! Morocco has picked up pace now. Boufal leads the attack on the left and finds El Khannous and gets the ball back inside the box. He registers a shot but Croatian defense steps up as the ball goes out for a goal kick
- 29’ UNLUCKYY!! Ziyech initiates a Moroccan attack with a lovely move to find Hakimi on the right. The PSG defender goes into the final third and whips out a cross but En-Nesyri fails to get a touch 25’ Morocco concedes a free-kick. Majer takes it and sends in a lofted ball in an effort to find Kramaric inside the box but the striker is caught offside
- 24’ Sloppy defending from Morocco continues. Allah gets a rebound inside the box but hits it straight to Livaja. He finds Modric at the edge of the box and the Real Madrid playmaker takes a couple of steps and dishes out a low shot, that nutmegs Dari, but Bono keeps the ball out
- 22’ After being forced to play in its own half for a good couple of minutes, Morocco starts to counter finally as Bono lets out a long throw to find Sabiri. The latter runs into the Croatian half but is intercepted by Majer
- 20’ After an electrifying first 10 minutes, the teams have taken a step back and are fighting to keep as much possession as they can. As of now, Croatia looks more threatening comparitively 18’ CHANCE!! Kramaric makes a decent run to reach the edge of the box before passing it to Orsic on the left but the latter fails to capitalise the opening as the ball clattered into his teammate 1
- 5’ Brilliant piece of defending from the scorer Dari. A Livaja-Kramaric link up led Croatia’s attack as the latter lashed out a shot but Dari slided in between to keep the ball away from danger
- 13’ Gvardiol from the Croatian half sends in a low kept through ball on the left flank but the ball travels faster than Perisic for a Moroccan goal kick
- 11’ Sabiri in the middle tries a through ball in an attempt to find Ziyech but Kramaric intercepts and the ball goes out for a Moroccan throw
- 9’ Free kick for Morocco. Ziyech puts in a long ball, it takes a deflection and goes directly to Dari who heads it inside the post. Gvardiol’s goal is cancelled within minutes!!
- 6’ Kramaric is down as he is fouled by Amarbat and it is a free-kick for Croatia. Majer takes the kick and puts a lofted ball into the penalty box that finds Perisic’s head and he passes it to Gvardiol and the masked man heads it past bono!! A memorable World Cup outing for the number 20 and he has topped it off with a goal!!
- 4’ Modric is incharge of the corner and sends in a searching lob ball but Morocco clears it after initial struggle 3’ Bono!! A sloppy kick from the Moroccan keeper almost goes into his own net. Luck favours him as the ball goes out for a Croatian corner
- 2’ Attack from Dalic’s side straight away as Modric runs into the Moroccan half but Yamiq sweeps the ball out KICK-OFF Andrej Kramaric gets his first touch of the game as Croatia starts left to right
