After Sadio Mane had punished Japan for an earlier error, the Blue Samurais came roaring back with a goal in the form of Takashi Inui to level the scores at half-time at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Sunday.
Mane pounced on an error from Japan's goalkeeper Kawashima Eiji to give Senegal a deserved lead in just the 11th minute.
Kawashima failed to deal with a drilled effort from Youssouf Sabaly from the left and the Liverpool attacker was the quickest to the ball to nod it past the shot stopper.
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Despite conceding the early goal, Japan persisted with its possession-based football which ultimately brought it back into the game in the 34th minute.
Right-back Yuto Nagatomo raced behind the defence to collect a diagonal ball before laying it in the path of Inui, who composed himself to curl the ball into the right hand corner of the goal.
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