New Zealand's All Whites concluded 2021 on a winning note at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, downing Gambia 2-0 to extend their current winning streak to three "A" internationals as they continue their FIFA World Cup qualifying preparations after a lengthy period of footballing hibernation.
Danny Hay's charges tore into their task with a vengeance, twice going close via corners inside the first five minutes. Joe Bell's third minute delivery to the near post picked out the head of Marko Stamenic, who saw his early attempt to break the deadlock foiled by an unlikely figure, the ball striking team-mate Joey Champness, who was in an offside position directly in front of goal.
Two minutes later, Sarpreet Singh pinged a corner beyond the far post, where Elijah Just was lurking. He evaded a challenge before sending a low drive into the goalmouth which Gambian goalkeeper Babouccar Gaye smothered greedily.
The All Whites' early pressure was maintained in the eleventh minute when captain Winston Reid brought the ball out of defence and picked out Singh with a pass which the midfielder instantly turned into the stride of Stamenic.
His first-time ball inside the fullback allowed Champness to get in behind the defence, but instead of going for goal himself, he opted for a first-time pass inside, Chris Wood his intended target. The covering figure of Noah Sundberg prevented the ball from reaching the prolific marksman, who endured poor service aplenty throughout the first half, barely touching the ball.
Three minutes later, Singh and Stamenic carved Gambia open again, with Champness' cross for Wood this time being cut out by James Gomez. The ball broke for Singh, who unleashed a curling effort which Gaye, flying to his right, turned round the far post.
Bell's corner prompted another, this time taken by Singh. It wasn't cleared, inviting the fit-again Reid to direct a close range volley goalwards, but directly at Gaye, who, despite his height, didn't command his penalty area and was often seen flapping wildly at incoming aerial deliveries - not a good look for a goalkeeper at any time.
Gaye's opposite number, Stefan Marinovic, had looked on with interest throughout the opening phase of the match as his team-mates made all the early running, but he was called upon in the eighteenth minute to keep out a twenty-yarder from Dembo Darboe after he had cut inside off the left flank.
The All Whites' response was swift, with another Bell corner to the far post being headed goalwards by Nando Pijnaker, only for Darboe to head the sphere off the line by the upright - a real let-off for "The Scorpions", who only remained on level terms largely because New Zealand's inaccurate final ball was all too often the downfall of their frequent attacks.
Nine minutes before half-time, and after a period of play in which Gambia had started to flex their attacking muscles without ever threatening to score, the Kiwis finally got the recipe right.
A Singh corner was headed out to Bell, who drove the ball back into the goalmouth. Lurking unmarked was Wood, whose deft back-heeled flick diverted the sphere into the bottom corner of the net past the startled figure of Gaye, who immediately appealed for offside, in vain.
This stung the African team, who were denied an equaliser three minute before the interval when captain Omar Colley met Ablie Jallow's corner with a header which he directed straight at Marinovic.
Tom Saintfiet's charges were buoyed by this, and took the initiative early in the second spell. Jallow
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was denied by Marinovic ten minutes into the half after the rebound from a Dembo Darboe cross invited the midfielder to let fly, something Yusupha Bobb did from just outside the penalty area sixty seconds later, his angled drive flashing narrowly past Marinovic's left-hand upright.
Both these efforts had been preceded by a Bell corner five minutes into the second half, of which the flapping figure of Gaye made a complete dog's breakfast. The ball dropped invitingly for Pijnaker, who couldn't believe he failed to head home from six yards, instead guiding his effort narrowly past the far post.
When the All Whites next attacked, in the 64th minute, they all but clinched victory. Bell picked out Singh, whose sumptuous pass through the inside left channel rewarded the angled run of Wood.
He shrugged off the covering defender and rounded the advancing figure of Gaye before neatly tucking the ball home from an acute angle to score his record-equalling 30th goal in all matches for New Zealand, a tally he shares with Vaughan Coveny, whom he trails by two goals in "A" international matches - this was Wood's 27th strike for his country in cap-earning fixtures, of which this was his sixtieth such match.
Three minutes later, Just and Cacace combined on the left for the ultimate benefit of Champness, only for the winger to spurn the shooting chance. To say Gaye was relieved by this is an understatement, but not half as much as was the case in the 72nd minute, when Wood latched onto Singh's through ball and shrugged off the challenge of Gomez before clipping a cross-shot across the face of goal.
Gambia retorted via Gomez, who headed an Ablie Jallow corner narrowly past the post before Cacace and Wood worked a one-to on the left which resulted in the fullback going close to further increasing New Zealand's advantage.
Gambia pressed for a goal which would have put pressure on the All Whites in the dying minutes, with Steve Trawally getting the better of fellow substitute Kelvin Kalua before just failing to pick out Dembo Darboe with his 83rd minute cross.
Two minutes later, Trawally went for goal himself, directing his shot on the turn straight at Marinovic after Saidy Janko had created the opening on the right. And in the 87th minute, substitute Lamin Jallow's fine work on the right culminated in a cross to the far post which Trawally somehow failed to turn home with the goal at his mercy.
In between these close calls, Wood went closest of all to altering the scoreline. Moments after Matthew Garbett and Kalua had been denied by a fantastic double save by Gaye, the All Whites' goal-getter latched onto a clearance and set sail for goal from halfway, sweeping past an opponent before shooting past the advancing goalkeeper, only to see his effort rebound to safety off an upright.
Singh drew a save from Gaye in stoppage time with the last shot of the game, the result of which earned the All Whites their third successive victory on the world stage, with teams from Asia, CONCACAF and now Africa having been conquered by Oceania's champions, whose upward trajectory is one their fans will be eager to see continuing throughout the World Cup Finals year that is 2022.
Gambia: Gaye; Colley, Gomez, Sundberg (Trawally, 72), Touray; Bobb (booked, 43) (L. Jallow, 72 (booked, 87)), E. Darboe (Mbye, 46), A. Jallow; Barrow, Janko, D. Darboe
All Whites: Marinovic; Kirwan (Kalua, 81), Reid (Boxall, 57), Pijnaker, Cacace (de Vries, 90); Singh, Bell (McCowatt, 88), Stamenic (booked, 89); Champness (Garbett, 69 (booked, 86)), Wood, Just (Smith, 69)
Referee: Sultan Mohamed Saleh (United Arab Emirates)
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