Lamptey and Ghana edge South Korea and Son in 5-goal thriller
The unwritten rule that you have to play Brighton players to win games at this World Cup became more deeply enshrined with Tariq Lamptey and Ghana the latest to taste success over South Korea.
Lamptey was given his first start in Qatar at right back, putting him in direct competition with Son Heung-min of Spurs.
It was the Albion man who edged the battle, even though he was at fault for the first South Korea goal in a ding-dong game eventually edged 3-2 by the Black Stars.
We should probably start to discount the BBC Player Ratings now too as there must be some serious vote rigging going on.
Kaoru Mitoma twice, Pervis Estupinan, Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister and now Lamptey twice have all topped the scoring for their efforts in Qatar.
Whilst you could argue that the previous six occasions were just about justified, Lamptey’s position as the highest rated player on the pitch against South Korea was somewhat strange as Mohammed Kudus scored twice for Ghana.
South Korea started well with the game plan evidently to attack as much as possible via getting Son on the ball. It was a chance for Lamptey to show his defensive qualities, something we do not see as much from him in an Albion shirt when the onus is more on getting forward.
Lamptey and Ghana defended manfully against the South Korea onslaught in the first half. They survived the opening 20 minutes which gave them a platform to score twice in 10 minutes and go into half time with a 2-0 lead.
Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu poked home from a goalmouth scramble followed by Ajax midfielder Kudus finishing a cross from Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew.
The sizable contingent of Ghana fans went wild and understandably so. Going into the break, Ghana had all the momentum and South Korea looked finished.
Two goals in the space of three minutes either side of the hour mark from K League top scorer Cho Gue-sung pulled South Korea back into it.
Lamptey lost the ball when trying to run out of a tight spot on the right to substitute Lee Kang-in. That gave Lee the time and space he needed to cross straight onto the head of Cho to beat Lawrence Ati-Zigi in the Ghana goal.
Cho followed that up by scoring an even better header 180 seconds later. Son slipped Jin-su Kim – one of five Kims in the South Korea XI – away from Lamptey.
Kim hung up a cross to the back post where Cho thumped home to spark incredible scenes of celebration on the pitch and in the stands.
Ghana showed remarkable fortitude to recover from the setback of throwing away a two-goal lead and seven minutes later they moved 3-2 ahead. Inaki Williams crossed from the left and the excellent Kudus applied the finish to complete his brace.
Lamptey was withdrawn for the final 12 minutes having picked up a booking. His overall contribution involved winning two out of three tackles and recovering the ball five times whilst Son was unable to either score or assist.
South Korea threw the kitchen sink at Ghana in the closing stages and Ati-Zigi had to make several vital saves to prevent the spoils being shared.
The final whistle arrived following 10 minutes of time added on, much to Ghana’s relief. It was too much for South Korea manager Paulo Bento to take and he was sent off afterwards by English referee Anthony Taylor.
Ghana now know that victory in their final group game over Uruguay will see them into the round of 16 at the same time as eliminating their opponents.
There is no love lost between those two nations after the classic World Cup quarter final in 2010, when Luis Suarez was sent off for deliberate handball and Ghana missed the resulting penalty as Uruguay progressed to the final four in the most controversial of manners.
Ghana have waited 12 years for revenge against Suarez and co. Having helped keep out Son, Lamptey will be hoping to play a part in delivering it.
