Croatia 2-1 Ghana: Nikola Vlasic wins it at the death as Black Stars go down swinging | OneFootball

Ghanaians employed new approach and almost saw it pay off but will settle for third place in Group L

Nikola Vlasic struck a late winner as Croatia bested Ghana in Group L’s finale.

Momentum swung wildly in this match, where both sides came in dreaming of topping the group, but after England edged Panama in New York, they had to settle for second and third.

This Croatia side, though, is a far cry from that which was trounced by France in the 2018 World Cup final. A day one battering by England, deserved or not, sent spirits in camp spiralling, and a laboured, arguably fortunate 3-2 defeat of Panama in their second outing did little to inspire.

It is no great surprise, then, that they were cautious in the opening exchanges here, and Ghana appeared to be set up with an upset in mind.

Petar Sucic hit a fine opener for Croatia

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Queiroz’s men have outperformed their remit this summer and were prepared to finish the group stage on a high, with top spot within reach at kick-off.

After playing the most turgid of low block defences against England, they were more proactive here, with Kamaldeen Sulemana offering a pacey outlet on the left flank.

All it took was a couple of warning shots from Croatia to beat them back, though. Ivan Perisic’s bombing runs from left-back kept Marvin Senaya backpedalling, and it was from one of his advances that the opener was created.

Petar Sucic got on the ball in midfield as Ghana settled back into their block, but bypassed it entirely with a driven shot from considerable range which seemed to catch Benjamin Asare unawares and snuck in at the bottom corner.

Ghana went home empty handed after Derrick Luckassen’s second-half equaliser

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His strike was the only difference come the break, despite three pinpoint Luka Modric crosses going unclaimed.

The Ghanaians made a lively start to the second half, and that was down in no small part to the transformative introduction of Abdul Fatawu. Within minutes he had flashed a shot over Dominik Livakovic’s goal, whipped a cross in to Semenyo, and won the ball in midfield to set the Black Stars on the counter.

The onslaught continued. Modric tracked back apace to heroically deny a threatening Gideon Mensah cross before Sulemana botched a three-on-two attack with a misplaced pass.

But the equaliser they long deserved finally came after the hydration break, as Luckassen tapped home from Ernest Nuamah’s free-kick, which stood after a lengthy VAR check.

Little more was needed to kick Croatia back into gear. The substitute Mario Pasalic stung the palms of Asare, before Vlasic completed his brace from the resultant corner, sending his nation second in Group L.