For so much of this game, it seemed as if Colombia would be frustrated by DR Congo — but they found a way through to secure their place in the World Cup round of 32.
Daniel Munoz was a fitting scorer of the winning goal — the Crystal Palace right-back had spurned a gilt-edged first-half chance but managed to make amends with his second goal for his country in less than a week. He had previously scored three times for Colombia in 46 appearances.
That followed a first half in which Colombia produced 14 shots without reward against DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. But Sebastien Desabre’s side could not hold on to a second point in two games at this tournament.Colombia broke through with Munoz’s low, deflected effort in the 76th minute. Luis Diaz also had two goals disallowed in the space of two minutes, when there were 10 minutes left to play. And Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas had to be alert in the first minute of stoppage time to repel a fierce effort from Nathanael Mbuku — but they got the job done.
It sets things up tantalisingly for Colombia vs Portugal in the final round of Group K fixtures on Saturday. Nestor Lorenzo’s Colombia are top, but need to avoid defeat against Portugal to secure first place in the group.
