Canada 1-1 Bosnia: Co-hosts win first ever World Cup point | OneFootball

Canada won their first ever point at a World Cup today, in a 1-1 draw with Bosnia. The co-hosts next game will see them take on Qatar in Vancouver where a win should be enough to see them escape through group stage.

Jovo Lukic opened the scoring after just 21 minutes, heading home from a corner to net his first international goal. However, Cyle Larin’s introduction from the bench proved crucial for Jesse Marsche’s side, he volleyed into the bottom corner after a sharp turn for Canada’s equaliser.

As It Happened

Canada flew out of the traps, winning themselves a corner inside the first minute. However, they were unable to pull off a clever training ground routine. The first shot of the game went the way of Bosnia moments later when Amar Memic fired over from inside the area. Alistair Johnston was shown the first yellow card of the match in the 10th minute for a mis-timed challenge on Memic.

Johnathan David’s first piece of action came a quarter of an hour into the contest, when he forced a save out of Nikola Vasilij. But it was Bosnia who took the lead shortly after, when Lukic’s flicked header found the far corner from a corner.

Tani Oluwaseyi looked to bring the hosts level on the half-hour mark, but his left-footed effort flashed high and wide of Vasilij’s goal. The Canadians had a penalty claim against Sead Kolasinac waved away before the break, when the Bosnian deflected a shot behind for a corner, which Canada failed to make the most of. Ermedin Demirovic and Lukic were then shown yellow cards as the first half drew to a close, with their side still leading 1-0.

Canada came close to an equaliser almost immediately in the second 45, but Oluwaseyi was unable to find a teammate in the middle. Oluwaseyi was at the heart of the action again moments later, clashing with Vasilij inside the area, but the keeper got to the ball first, meaning no penalty was given. Luc De Fougerolles was then added to the referee’s notebook for a tactical foul.

The hosts looked certain to have the ball in the net, but they were denied by a superb goal-line clearance from Kolasinac. The end-to-end action continued when Maxime Crépeau flew off his line to save Demirovic’s effort inside the box. Jesse Marsch turned to his bench on the hour mark, replacing Liam Millar, Tajon Buchanan and David with Jacob Shaffelburg, Promise David and Ali Ahmed. Bosnia also made a double change, replacing Ivan Basic and Lukic with Armin Gigovic and Samed Bazdar.

The Canucks’ hunt for a leveller continued when Stephen Eustaquio took aim from distance, but he couldn’t find the target. Oluwaseyi forced another goal-line clearance moments later, this time from former Rangers defender Nikola Katic.

Further changes followed for both sides, with Bosnia’s Ivan Sunjic and Kerim Alajbegovic replacing Memic and Esmir Bajraktarevic. Meanwhile, Larin was introduced in favour of Oluwaseyi for Canada. Larin made an immediate impact, netting the equalising goal for the hosts with an excellent turn and right-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Bosnia’s captain, Kolasinac, was withdrawn through injury in the 83rd minute and replaced by Dzenis Burnic for the remainder of the match. As the Toronto crowd grew louder, Canada made their final change, which saw Eustaquio replaced by experienced midfielder Jonathan Osorio.

The second of six additional minutes saw Katic added to the referee’s book for a tactical foul on Larin. Ahmed tried to push Canada forward for a late chance, but his delivery into the box lacked quality.