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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dominic Booth

South Korea 2-3 Ghana: Mohammed Kudus settles World Cup 2022 thriller

Ghana gave their hopes of reaching the World Cup last 16 an almighty boost with a dramatic 3-2 win over South Korea.

Mohammed Salisu and Mohammed Kudus both netted first-half goals, before South Korea launched a spirited second-half comeback thanks to two headers from Gue-Sung Cho in the space of three minutes to give the African side a major scare.

But the impressive Kudus – who assisted Salisu's goal – restored the Black Stars' lead with another strike of his own, which proved the eventual winner, with an assured left-footed finish.

South Korea certainly looked the more dangerous side early on, winning a string of corners in the opening 15 minutes, but they struggled to carve out a clear-cut chance.

(Getty Images)

Salisu broke the deadlock after some poor defending from South Korea allowed the ball to drop in the box, with the Southampton defender firing home.

Kudus then latched onto a fine whipped ball from Jordan Ayew to double the Ghana lead before the break to leave South Korea with a mountain to climb.

(AFP via Getty Images)

They looked like they had reached the summit after Cho's sensational brace, only to be caught napping at the other end just six minutes later when Kudus fired home.

That set up a grandstand finish in which Ghana just about defended their slender lead to claim a vital three points, as South Korea head coach Paulo Bento was shown a late red card after protests over the full-time whistle being blown before a corner could be played.

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