Chile 1-0 Switzerland with controversial goal
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Mark Gonzalez's disputable goal offered a 1-0 victory to Chile in their World Cup group match against 10-man Switzerland on Monday.
It was the second triumph of the South American team in their Group H competition after Chile beat Honduras 1-0, putting the men of Marcelo Bielsa in a comfortable position to sail into the knockout stage.
Mark Gonzales headed the ball into the net in the 75th minute after getting a marvelous pass from substitute Estaban Paredes in the Swiss box.
TV replays showed, however, Paredes was in offside position, leaving the goal into controversy. Referee Khali Al Ghamdi did not blow the whistle.
Despite the loss, Switzerland has set another best World Cup performance for going goalless for 559 minutes after resisting waves of attacks from Chile. The Swiss men broke the record of 551 minutes without conceding in the 67th minute.
The Switzerland was dealt a heavy blow in the 31th minute as the referee showed a red card to midfielder Valon Behrami after he elbowed opponents when trying to continue his procession of the ball.
That put the men of Ottmar Hitzfeld to fight the duel with 10 members, giving an advantage to the South American team to unlash attacks.
Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez's efforts was off the target in the 40th minute as his strike went straight to Swiss goalkepper Diego Benaglio.
Chile strived to break the deadlock in the 49th minute as they pulled a free-kick back to Sanchez. The striker on the edge of the box hurled the ball home with a powerful long-range shot. The efforts were however ruled out as three Chilean members, including midfielder Gonzalez were all in offside position.
Another chance slip from the grip of Chilean young forward Jorge Valdivia in the 55th minute when he received the ball bouncing back from Swiss defenders and charged forward with great strides. A Swiss defender finally deflected away the ball with his body and cleared the threat after the ball run from the fingertips of Benaglio.
The rest of match was featured by heavy collision of players of both sides. The referee showed a total of nine yellow cards and one red card throughout the match.
The counter-attack strategy of Switzerland worked very well in their c;clash against World Cup favorite Spain on June 16 in Durban, beating La Roja 1-0 and stunning Spanish fans.
The feat put a sudden end to La Roja's run of 12 consecutive wins as they had been approaching their best series of 15 wins that was abruptly stopped by the United States in the Confederations Cup semifinal last year.
The Switzerland will play with Honduras on June 25 in Bloemfontein while Chile will meet Spain on the same day in Tshwane.
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