Enner Valencia’s brace helps Ecuador ride past Qatar

Despite the decibel of the stadium, Qatar failed to take the best out of its potential in the debut World Cup clash against Latin American opponents Ecuador. Ecuador humbled Qatar in a 2-goal victory and possessed the leash of the game for the most time.

Qatar received an early blow in the third minute of the game as Valencia scored a header which was later ruled out by VAR. From the spectator’s view, this shook the confidence of the entire Qatar team which resulted in dispossessions, poor defending and lack of final third attacks.

Later in the 14th minute, Qatar conceded a penalty on Valencia who gushed past Saad Al Sheeb and he left with no choice than stopping him with foul play. Valencia s scored from the penalty spot with a low blow to the bottom left corner as Sheeb jumped the opposite. Taking the advantage of Qatar’s panic after conceding an early goal, Valencia stroked a sensational header doubling their lead in the 31st minute utilising the cross from Á. Preciado.

The first 45 minutes drew to a close with Ecuador 2-0 up and in complete domination of the game. The second half cast fierce attacks from Ecuador which forced Qatar to hard defending until the final whistle. Felix Sanchez Bas is now forced to reinforce his team or it would be a disaster for the hosts in group A.