South Korea boss sent off after explosive row with Anthony Taylor in World Cup loss

South Korea boss Paulo Bento was shown a straight red card after storming the pitch to confront referee Anthony Taylor in the aftermath of his side’s defeat to Ghana in their crucial Group H clash on Monday. It was a largely dominant performance from South Korea, who enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball and registered a total of 22 shots on goal, but they were ultimately beaten by a spirited Ghana side in spite of their best efforts at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.

Ghana found themselves two goals to the good at half-time, with Mohammed Salisu’s opener quickly followed by a glancing header from Mohammed Kudus that evaded South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and nestled in the back of the net. Bento’s side went on to draw level with two goals from Cho Gue-sung but were forced to leave empty-handed at the final whistle after Kudus struck again to claim all three points for Ghana.

South Korea thought they had won a final chance to peg Ghana back from a corner deep into stoppage time when Kim Moon-hwan’s speculative effort from range was deflected behind, with over 10 additional minutes having been played. However, referee Taylor blew the full-time whistle before South Korea had the chance to take the corner, which angered their players as they surrounded the English official in protest.

Bento also stormed over to berate Taylor for his decision to deny South Korea the corner but was quickly shown a red card, although he did not immediately leave the pitch and continuted to vent in the direction of the referee. The incident marked a controversial end to another topsy-turvy game at the World Cup, with South Korea now facing an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages after taking just one point from their first two matches in Group H.

Taylor’s decision to send Bento off will see the South Korea manager banned from the dugout in their final group stage match against Portugal on Friday, which is likely to be a must-win for his side as a result of their poor start to their World Cup campaign. It remains to be seen whether Son Heung-min and his team-mates will be able to get the job done, though, after failing to reach the knockout rounds in each of their last two appearances at the tournament in Brazil and Russia.

However, Monday’s result was a strong one for Ghana, who narrowly lost at the hands of Portugal despite scoring twice in their Group H opener and now sit on a total of three points after edging out South Korea in another entertaining contest involving the Black Stars. A win over Uruguay in their final group stage match will see them through to the last 16 of the World Cup, although it will be a hugely difficult task to overcome the challenge posed by the likes of Darwin Nunez and Luis Suarez in their next outing.

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