Japan hold Senegal 2-2
Yekaterinburg, June 24: Takashi Inui inspired Japan to come back from behind twice to hold Senegal 2-2 in a FIFA World Cup Group H contest at the Ekaterinburg Arena here on Sunday.
The wide forward pulled Japan level in the 34th minute after forward Sadio Mane had given Senegal the lead in the 11th minute. Senegal got ahead again through right-back Moussa Wague but Inui assisted for veteran Keisuke Honda's equaliser in the 78th minute.
The hard-fought draw didn't do any harm to either of the sides as they are firmly in contention to reach the pre-quarterfinals. Following the draw, both Japan and Senegal have four points each after the conclusion of their respective second matches in Group H.
The Asian outfit showed a lot of determination and resoluteness to get a point from the game. The way the game started, but it seemed that the Africans will walk away winners like they did against Poland in their opener. But Japan were up to the task.
Senegal threatened early with their pace up front and relied on their counter-attack game. Especially right winger Ismail Sarr and young right-back Wague dominated Japanese left winger Inui and left-back Yuto Nagatomo.
Senegal took the lead in the 11th minute and Japan succumbed under early pressure for the opening goal. Wague crossed to the right but midfielder Genki Haraguchi botched an attempted headed clearance on the left and the ball fell to Youssouf Sabaly. The latter took a shot at goal and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima punched the ball against the legs of Mane as it rolled into the net.
After the goal, Senegal took it easy as Japan took some time to get into the game. The goal certainly made Japan determined to find the equaliser.
They made some fine moves but always a Senegalese counter-attack was in their minds which were slightly stopping them from going full throttle. However, they did stretch Senegal in their own half as the Africans defended deep.
As the match crossed the 25-minute mark, Japan looked confident and more comfortable on the ball as the Senegal team had stopped pressing and chasing the ball.
Japan were rewarded for their efforts in the 34th minute as Nagatomo, on the left, brought down a pass from over the top before slipping the ball to Inui, who then curled a low shot past a couple of defenders and into the bottom right corner from 15 yards.
Five minutes later, off a counter-attack, Senegal could have regained the lead if M'biaye Niang had come up with a strong chip past an onrushing keeper Kawashima after being put through by Badoua Ndiaye.
In the second half, Japan continued to impress as Yuya Osako, who hardly made a decisive shot in the first half, tested Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye twice within the first five minutes, one through a header and another with a rebound shot.
Osako then did well to gallop down the left corner of the Senegalse box before back-heeling the ball into the path of the marching Inui, who once again launched a lethal curling shot which beat Khadim and bounced off the crossbar in the 65th minute.
However, six minutes later, Senegal scored against the run of play when Wague blasted the ball into the net with a right-footer from the right as he connected a cross from Sabaly.
Senegal's lead lasted only seven minutes with Japan equalizing through Honda, who had come on as a substitute a minute after Senegal's goal. A cross was half-heartedly cleared by goalkeeper Khadim who came off his line and Inui grabbed the ball on the left before his cross to the right saw Honda's left-footer enter the Senegalese goal without resistance.
Later, both fought hard to score the winner but there was not any as the match ended 2-2.
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Polling underway for 5 RS seats in Bihar
Patna (PTI): Voting is underway for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar on Monday, with five nominees from the ruling NDA and one from the opposition RJD contesting the biennial polls, an official said.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin, also the five-time MLA from Bankipur assembly seat, RJD's national working president Tejashwi Yadav, BJP MLA Maithili Thakur, and jailed JD(U) legislator Anant Singh, among others, cast their ballots.
The polling, which commenced at 9 am, will continue till 5 pm in the Bihar Assembly complex, where MLAs are casting their ballots, he said.
Counting will begin after 5 pm, and the results are expected to be declared the same day.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and Nabin are among the NDA candidates. The other three nominees from the ruling coalition are Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, both sitting members of the Rajya Sabha, and BJP's Shivesh Kumar, who is seeking a berth in the Upper House of Parliament for the first time.
Yadav, after casting his vote, said, "Our candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh will win as we have got support from the five MLAs of AIMIM and one BSP legislator."
Talking to reporters on Monday, JD(U)'s national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said, "NDA's all five candidates will win. We don't care what opposition parties are claiming."
The AIMIM announced on Sunday that all five of its MLAs would support the RJD candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote, Singh said, "If Nitish Kumar does not remain the CM, I will not contest polls next time. My children will contest elections."
Singh, the Mokama MLA, was arrested ahead of the assembly polls last year in connection with the killing of Dular Chand Yadav, a rival gangster who was supporting the local candidate of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party.
Singh, who has since been unable to secure bail, was allowed to cast his vote on parole.
With numbers comfortably in favour of the NDA for four seats and marginally short for the fifth, the opposition forced an election by fielding the RJD's candidate.
The state administration has made adequate security arrangements to ensure a smooth election, an official said.
The NDA aims to win all five seats but needs support from three legislators from the opposition bench to achieve that.
The Grand Alliance kept its MLAs at a hotel in the state capital to prevent alleged poaching by rivals.
However, the NDA organised meetings with its legislators at the residences of ministers and senior leaders in the state's capital on Sunday.
The NDA enjoys a brute majority in the assembly, though its tally of 202 in the 243-member House falls three short of the number needed to secure all five Rajya Sabha seats.
To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs the support of at least 41 MLAs in the Bihar assembly.
