South Korea 1-2 Mexico: Mexico Through to the Knockouts

After the impressive win over the world champions in their first game, Mexico played South Korea in matchday 2.

South Korea failed to register a shot on target in their first game against Sweden but in the first 20 minutes, South Korea had a lot of chances with Son Heung-Min having three chances on goal which were all blocked heroically by the Mexican defenders.

Mexico made the breakthrough after Andres Guardado’s cross into the box was blocked with Jang Hyun-soo’s hand after he tried to slide across.

The referee straight away pointed to the spot, but it was harsh due to the proximity of the cross to Hyun-soo’s hand.

Carlos Vela easily scored the 11^th penalty of the World Cup to make it South Korea 0-1 Mexico in the 25^th minute.

Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min produced the closest chances on goal in the first half when he outpaced Hector Moreno but the Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa came off his line to prevent Son to shoot in the 39^th minute.

The first half ended with Mexico dominating possessions while South Korea played aggressively with a dozen fouls.

Both South Korea and Mexico had good shots which were met with both keepers brilliantly saving them at the beginning of the second half.

50^th goal for Javier Hernandez after a counter-attack with Hirving Lozano led the charge then he passed to Hernandez on the left flank who cut in to leave the Korean defender on the floor with an attempted block then scored in the 65^th minute.

South Korea 0-2 Mexico.

Rafael Marquez’s poor pass back to the keeper was intercepted by Son Heung-min but Marquez managed to tackle Son before he had a chance to shoot on the 76^th minute.

In the 93^rd minute, Tottenham’s Son shot from 25 yards out which gave South Korea their first 2018 World Cup goal however it was too late for a comeback.

The game ended South Korea 1-2 Mexico meaning Mexico is through while second spot to the last 16 can still be taken by any other team depending on if Sweden beat Germany.

Source of Image – BBC