It was a defensive exhibition as African Champions Senegal and Netherlands looked like they would play out to a scoreless draw but all that changed in the 83rd minute when Dutch player of the year Cody Gakpo scored to deny the Teranga Lions a precious point.

Regarded as the match of the day, there is no doubt it had all the ingredients of a mouth-watering fixture as both sides topped their respective qualification groups on their way to Qatar.

Nevertheless, their defenses proved to be the difference up and till the deceive moment, both teams enjoyed their fair share of possession but there is no doubt that both attacks were blunt and lacked the cutting edge needed to add more flair to a heavily contested match.

Many fans could only watch anxiously and imagine what the outcome would have been if the men in white had the injured Sadio Mane at their disposal.

The game had very few attacking threats though when it was headed to close with the Dutch in the lead and in additional time, the Netherlands extended their lead through Davy Klaassen who pounced on a loose ball that came as a rebound from a Memphis Depay shot after Edouard Mendy failed to stop it to slot behind the back of the net and end the 2-0.

The African Champions will face hosts Qatar on Friday as they seek redemption while the Netherlands will play Ecuador.