Willy Caballero howler leads to opening goal in Group D clash
Croatia are through to the last 16 of the World Cup after a stunning 3-0 victory in Nizhny Novgorod which leaves Argentina in serious danger of exiting at the group stage.
Ante Rebic made the most of a Willy Caballero howler to open the scoring in the 53rd minute before Luka Modric curled in a sensational second (81) and Ivan Rakitic stroked in an injury-time third to secure his side’s passage to the knockout stages.
But after their opening 1-1 draw with Iceland, Argentina go into their final Group D game with Nigeria with only one point and their hopes of staying in Russia beyond the group stage are hanging by a thread.
Both sides wasted glorious chances as the first half somehow remained goalless.
Player ratings
Argentina: Caballero (4), Mercado (6), Tagliafico (6), Otamendi (6), Salvio (6), Acuna (7), Meza (7), Mascherano (5), Perez (6), Messi (5), Aguero (5)
Subs: Higuain (6), Pavon (6), Dybala (6)
Croatia: Subasic (6), Vrsaljko (7), Strinic (6), Lovren (7), Vida (7), Perisic (6), Rakitic (9), Modric (9), Brozovic (8), Rebic (7), Mandzukic (6)
Subs: Kramaric (7), Kovacic (6), Corluka (n/a)
Man of the match: Ivan Rakitic
Source: http://www.skysports.com
