Mac Allister, Messi and Argentina into World Cup quarter finals
Argentina are into the World Cup quarter finals and again it was the Lionel Messi and Alexis Mac Allister show in overcoming a dogged Australia 2-1 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Messi opened the scoring in his 1000th career appearance with his 789th goal. It was a moment of magic from the Argentina captain with Mac Allister heavily involved in the build up.
La Albiceleste had barely threatened before Messi struck with 35 minutes on the clock. Picking up the ball on the right wing, he hit a low pass towards the edge of the box to where Mac Allister was lurking.
The Albion midfielder took a touch and threaded a ball between two Australia defenders. Nicolas Otamendi touched it back into the path of Messi charging into the middle, who srtoked the ball into the bottom corner past a helpless Maty Ryan.
Ryan was at fault when Argentina doubled their lead 12 minutes into the second half. He took a heavy touch from a back pass and then tried to recover the situation by dribbling around Rodrigo De Paul.
This proved to be an unwise decision, Julian Alvarez closing down Ryan to win the ball after the former Brighton goalkeeper lost out to De Paul before rolling into the now unguarded net.
Ryan was making his 10th appearance at a World Cup, a joint-record for Australia. He atoned for the error with some second half stops – including one from Messi – which become very important in setting the stage for a near-famous comeback from the Socceroos.
Australia pulled one back with 13 minutes remaining to have Argentina nerves a little frayed. Craig Goodwin hit an effort from outside the area which took a huge deflection off Enzo Fernandez.
That goal arrived pretty much out of the blue, firing the Socceroos up to have a real crack at finding an equaliser.
They nearly had one with what would have been one of the greatest World Cup goals ever. Aziz Behich ran through the entire Argentina team with shades of Diego Maradona against England in 1986, only to be thwarted six yards from goal by a brilliant Lisandro Martinez tackle.
Another former Seagull in Aaron Mooy and his shiny bonce won possession back for Australia to create a 97th minute chance. The ball was worked towards Garang Kuo whose effort was superbly saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Victory means that Mac Allister maintains his 100 percent record at the World Cup, whilst trailing only Messi in the Argentina player ratings on the BBC website.
Mac Allister was also on the receiving end of praise from no lesser judge than Sergio Aguero. Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Aguero said: “He’s a very intelligent player. He positions himself, waits his moment.”
Argentina will face the Netherlands in the quarter finals. If La Albiceleste were to win through, Mac Allister would become the first ever Brighton player to reach a World Cup semi finals.
