Ghana took the lead in FIFA World Cup 2010 Group D after winning their opening fixture against Serbia through an 85th minute Gyan penalty.
Serbia had been reduced to ten men with around fifteen minutes remaining after centre back Lukovic picked up his second yellow card of the match for a professional foul.
This entertaining match could have gone either way, however, as good chances fell to both sides in an exciting first 75 minutes, prior to the sending off. Still, after the referee pulled out the red card, Serbia produced two excellent chances, one of which drew an excellent save from Kingson in the Ghana goal, before Kuzmanovic was adjudged to have handled in the Serbia area and the referee pointed to the spot.
Cue the first penalty of the 2010 World Cup, which was emphatically dispatched high into the left-hand side of the Serbia net by Gyan, before Ghana played out the remaining eight minutes or so without too many scares against the numerically disadvantaged Serbian team.
Ghana lead Group D at least until the result of this evenings match between Germany and Australia, and, on the balance of today’s game, are just about worth the three points, though neither side could have been too disappointed with a draw.
For the third World Cup opening match in a row, however, it was a mistake that proved vital in a fairly cagey affair. Though this match was far more entertaining than several we have seen thus far, the deliberate hand-ball from Kuzmanovic was a huge error that would prove vital.
Qualification for the knockout stage, it would appear, will go to the teams which are best able to maintain their discipline.