Celtic star Aaron Mooy and his Australia side have picked up a massive victory at the World Cup today, beating Tunisia 1-0 in Group D.
After being beaten by France in the opening group game, the Aussies needed the three points to set up a big final match against Denmark on Wednesday afternoon.
The Socceroos were sent into dreamland after 23 minutes when Mitchell Duke capitalised on Craig Goodwin’s deflected cross to loop a header beyond goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen.
Mooy played a hugely influential role in the victory, especially in the first half when Australia established their lead and left Tunisia chasing the game in the second half.
He was distributing possession well, providing the calm presence needed to consistently recycle the ball and build play into the opposition half.
Nobody was more involved than the Celtic man with 68 touches overall. Over a third of his passes were into the final third, while he held up well in midfield battles, winning five of eight duels across the 90 minutes. He made one block, one clearance and an interception, recovering the ball 12 times. [FotMob/Opta]
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He again came to the fore in the closing stages, playing a leadership role as Tunisia pushed for an equaliser and had more of the ball. He was often Australia’s out ball to get up the pitch, demonstrating the kind of game intelligence needed to see out a match of this magnitude.
Mooy can be hugely proud of his performance. I’m sure most of his homeland will be tonight as they hope for progression into the knockout stages. They’ve responded how they needed to and can now look forward to that test against the Danes. It’s going to be huge.
In other news, Iconic Celtic hero Shunsuke Nakamura takes first coaching steps.