Colombia through to 2018 FIFA World Cup Last 16 after 1-0 win over Senegal
After the coin was tossed by the referee, the match started with a kick-off on behalf of Senegal. Colombia needed a win only at tonight's match at the 45,000-seat capacity Samara Arena to clear the group stage, while the draw was enough for the Senegalese squad to advance to the Round of Last 16.
Both teams tested each other for ten minutes of the match with no shots on the goal. The first ball was fired from a free kick on the goal of Senegal after Colombia's Radamel Falcao was chopped down by two Senegalese footballers as he rushed on the goal.
The free kick was fired by Juan Quintero, who aimed for the left bottom corner past the wall, but Senegalese goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye dived quickly to save his net.
Five minutes later Senegal's Sadio Mane went down in the box following the tackle from Davinson Sanchez and the referee called for a penalty shot, however, recalled his decision after watching the episode on the VAR (Video Assistant Referee).
Senegal received a chance to score from a free kick less than ten minutes remaining in the opening half, but the ball kicked by Salif Sane first went above the wall and then also went wide above the upper bar of the Colombian goal.
Less than a minute in the opening 45-minute stretch of the match Colombian defender Johan Mojica was flashed a yellow card. The 30-meter free kick of Senegal was unsuccessful just like the following three minutes of the added time and the first half ended with a scoreless draw.
Statistics showed that the ball possession in the first half was 55% on behalf of the Colombian team, while the Senegalese team accounted for 45%
Early in the second half, Senegal's striker Mbaye Niang was booked for a strong kick in the hip of Colombia's midfielder Juan Cuadrado.
The score was opened almost 30 minutes into the closing half with a header from Colombian defender Yerri Mina. The goal scored by the 23-year-old Colombian defender was the only one in the match as the score of 1-0 remained unchanged until the final whistle.
Colombia finished its Group H in the top spot and is now set to play in the next round of Last 16 on July 3 at the Spartak Arena in Moscow. Their opponent will be decided later in the day.
In a parallel Group H game played in the city of Volgograd, team Poland beat Japan 1-0, meaning that the Japanese team finished the group stage in the second place. The teams of Poland and Senegal are now packing home.
A total of 32 national football teams entered the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which is held in 11 cities across Russia between June 14 and July 15, and only 16 of them proceeded to the knockout stage.
Russia is holding its first time ever edition of the FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a spectacular opening show at the Luzhniki Stadium on the night of June 14.
The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, and Samara.