Colombia edge past Ghana for ninth straight win in competitive action

[p]Neither side enjoyed an ideal start to this first-ever H2H, with both forced into early changes as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a]’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cordoba-jhon/MNBr0eFU/"]Jhon Cordoba[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ghana/nNBjHale/"]Ghana[/a]’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/senaya-marvin/YFqLAlLI/"]Marvin Senaya[/a] went off injured inside 13 minutes.[/p][p][b]There were immediate ramifications to those early changes, with Los Cafeteros substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suarez-luis/fV4fAvB8/"]Luis Suarez[/a] crossing from the right to the back post where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arias-jhon/YNxvrQqS/"]Jhon Arias[/a] arrived completely unmarked to sweep home the opener. [/b][/p][p]Much of Ghana’s recent success has come from a solid backline which kept five successive competitive clean sheets prior to their matchday three defeat against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a]. Falling behind early was therefore far from an ideal situation, and failing to register a single shot on target prior to HT epitomised the Black Stars’ struggles.[/p][p]Their deficit could’ve increased before the break, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-luis/SKjMUHVm/"]Luis Diaz[/a] fired wide after the ball bounced fortuitously into his path, and returning goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ati-zigi-lawrence/MLx41pIf/"]Lawrence Ati-Zigi[/a] made a stunning stop to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mojica-johan/drRlRNNC/"]Johan Mojica[/a]’s header.[/p][image alt="Colombia-Ghana matchup stats" id="74b1be5a-e5b7-4142-b3c6-66037a500e56" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="bd8f2348-3ca6-477b-8535-874b9fe3c24f" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Six of Colombia’s previous seven matches saw the HT result replicated at FT, so a mammoth task awaited Ghana after the restart.[/p][p]Their lack of quality up front was continuously a problem, and Colombia continued to threaten to put the game beyond them. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/puerta-gustavo/MgP26lcq/"]Gustavo Puerta[/a]’s curling strike was kept out by Ati-Zigi, before Diaz thought he’d doubled their lead, before being denied by the offside flag.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] winger’s luckless evening continued when he was thwarted by Ati-Zigi after being found by Puerta in a promising position. Colombia’s attacking output reduced as the contest went on, and while Ghana probed for long periods, they simply could not find a way through Los Cafeteros’ backline.[/p][p]As a result, Colombia reached the last 16 for a fourth successive WC appearance, while Ghana bow out after suffering a fourth defeat in as many meetings against South American opponents at the finals.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/puerta-gustavo/MgP26lcq/"]Gustavo Puerta[/a] (Colombia)[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/colombia-G02s4PCS/ghana-nNBjHale/?mid=IF40Fk9U"]Check out the full matchup stats here.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]