The Sports Guru
Colombia spent an hour trying to find a way past one man, and in the end it took a deflection to do it. This covers Daniel Munoz's winner in a 1-0 victory over DR Congo, the goalkeeping display from Lionel Mpasi that nearly stole a point, and how the result leaves Group K poised going into the final round.
For an hour the story of this game was a goalkeeper, and only a goalkeeper. Colombia battered DR Congo with 20 shots, owned the ball and the territory, and still could not score, because Lionel Mpasi had decided he would not let them. Then, on 76 minutes, Daniel Munoz drove a shot that took a heavy deflection and wrong-footed the man who had kept his side alive, and Colombia finally had the goal their dominance had long deserved. The 1-0 win sent them top of Group K and into the last 32. DR Congo, beaten but far from disgraced, are still standing.
Mpasi keeps DR Congo upright
The numbers behind Mpasi's afternoon read like a misprint. The DR Congo goalkeeper made five saves in the opening 20 minutes alone, the most by any keeper in that span of a World Cup game since Jamaica's Warren Barrett held off Argentina at France 98. It was the kind of opening that usually ends a contest before it has properly begun, except that here it did the opposite. Every stop Mpasi made dug his team a little deeper into the trench and dared Colombia to keep coming. They did. For a long time it made no difference at all.
Colombia had already seen one goal chalked off, Munoz turning the ball in on six minutes only for the offside flag to cut the celebration short. They kept arriving in waves. On 50 minutes Mpasi denied Luis Diaz from close range and Santiago Arias somehow could not convert the rebound, the sort of miss that lingers when the scoreline stays level. A team less sure of itself might have started to fret. Colombia simply gathered the ball up and went again, trusting that 20 shots would eventually find the one gap their opponents could not cover.
Munoz finds the gap that mattered
The breakthrough, when it came, owed something to fortune and a great deal to persistence. Munoz, the Crystal Palace wing-back who had spent the night galloping up the right, struck a shot that clipped a Congolese body on its way through and spun beyond Mpasi, the goalkeeper sent the wrong way by the very deflection his defence had caused. There was nothing he could have done about it, which is the cruel arithmetic of a deflected goal. The man who had saved everything he could see was beaten by the one thing he could not.
It was a fitting scorer. Munoz had been Colombia's most consistent attacking threat down the flank, and the goal continued the form of a side already humming after their 3-1 win over Uzbekistan in their opener. Diaz, denied twice and flagged offside for a strike of his own on 81 minutes, will feel he should have had a goal to his name. He will not mind. Colombia had what they came for.
Group K takes shape
The win confirmed Colombia as Group K winners and booked their place in the knockout rounds, a clean and controlled passage through a group that had threatened to be awkward. For DR Congo the defeat is not the end of anything. Beaten here, and held to a creditable draw by Portugal earlier in the group, they can still reach the last 32 if they beat Uzbekistan on Sunday. A team that defended like this, and carried a goalkeeper in this mood, will fancy their chances of finding the result they need.
There is a version of this match in which Mpasi's heroics are rewarded with a point, and it is not far away. A deflection settled it instead, which is football's habit of refusing to reward effort in any neat proportion. Colombia move on as group winners and possible round-of-32 opponents to be avoided. DR Congo move on with their fate still in their own hands, and a goalkeeper who has given them every reason to believe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Colombia beat DR Congo 1-0 in their Group K fixture at Estadio Guadalajara, watched by a crowd of 45,358. Daniel Munoz scored the only goal on 76 minutes with a deflected strike that wrong-footed goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. Colombia had 20 shots across the game but were repeatedly denied before the breakthrough, with the win confirming them as Group K winners.
Daniel Munoz, the Crystal Palace wing-back, scored on 76 minutes. His shot took a big deflection on its way through and wrong-footed DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. Munoz had earlier had a goal disallowed for offside on six minutes, so the late strike was a fitting reward for one of Colombia's most persistent attacking outlets on the right flank.
Outstanding. The DR Congo goalkeeper made five saves in the opening 20 minutes alone, the most by any keeper in that span of a World Cup match since Jamaica's Warren Barrett against Argentina at France 98. Mpasi kept his side level for 76 minutes against a Colombia team that mustered 20 shots, and was beaten only by a deflection he could do nothing about.
Yes. The 1-0 win over DR Congo secured Colombia's place in the last 32 and confirmed them as winners of Group K. It followed their 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan in their opening game, and means Colombia progress from the group stage with a strong record and top seeding heading into the round-of-32 draw.
Yes. Despite the defeat, DR Congo remain in contention and can reach the last 32 if they beat Uzbekistan in their final group game on Sunday. They had earlier drawn with Portugal, and their resilient defending against Colombia, allied to Lionel Mpasi's form in goal, gives them genuine hope of getting the result they need to go through.
Sources: Final score, goalscorer and minute, key chances, the shot count and the record around Lionel Mpasi's saves, venue, attendance and the Group K qualification picture, as reported in Sky Sports' coverage of Colombia 1-0 DR Congo at the World Cup.
