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Colombia secured a place in the quarter-finals after a hard-fought win over guests Qatar.
Atalanta star Duvan Zapata was the difference maker once again as he broke the deadlock in the 86th minute, heading home an outrageous cross from James Rodriguez.
With a poor management of the game by the referee frustrating the fans, the match was also interspersed with heated exchanges between the players, as well as with the official himself, thereby leaving the game besmirched.
Let's break it all down by highlighting the key aspects of the match from these observations:
#1 Duvan Zapata is Colombia's new talisman
Even though James Rodriguez was the real architect behind the goal with a superb outside-of-the-boot assist - his fourth for Los Cafeteros in the last eight games, Duvan Zapata is fast emerging to be the team's new talisman.
After a late strike against Argentina to consolidate an unlikely win on the opening day, the Atalanta FC hitman once again struck late on, but this time to secure a vital victory.
Having tested the Qatari defense on numerous occasions before this without success, he rose high enough to meet Rodriguez's pin-point cross and headed home in the 85th minute to finally break the deadlock.
He's now on level terms with Chile's Eduardo Vargas in the race for Golden Boot, while this was also the third consecutive game that he was on target for Colombia.
Having lit up the Serie A last season with a 23-goal blitzkrieg, including the outrageous run of scoring in eight consecutive matches, Zapata's stock continues to grace newer heights with each outing. He was the most potent threat to Qatar this evening, attempting five shots whilst also laying two key passes.
Also see : Copa America Standings, La Liga Transfer News, Barcelona Transfer News
#2 Qatar must keep a check on their aggression
The Al-Annabi showed great heart and character in the last game to Paraguay where they fought back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 and earn a valuable point.
In this process, the reigning Asian champions also earned plaudits from all quarters. Against Colombia, they set up compact and closed down passing lanes to frustrate Carlos Quieroz's men to vast extents of the match in another tidy performance.
Qatar though, would be hard-pressed to have ended on the losing end despite a stoic defensive show, but a rather aggressive and brash conduct by the players left a bittersweet taste about their overall performance.
Almost every time the referee whistled the game to a halt in lieu of a foul, the crimson-clad brigade came accosting at him. In the second half, Venezuelan official Alexis Hernandez pointed to the spot for an apparent handball, and five to six Qatari players came raging at him churlishly asking him to review his decision through the VAR.
The Maroons skipper Hassan Al-Haydos in particular was always seen exchanging words with the official whenever the game was paused, whereas Akram Afif even pelted unsavoury Spanish slangs at him for calling out his foul at one point.
22-year-old Hasim Madibo who was already on a yellow came scurrying at Hernandez for calling out his foul on James Rodriguez and gave him the death stare. One can only wonder how did he get away with that.
As much as Qatar impressed with a sturdy showing, this kind of brash and brazen conduct makes it highly unprofessional, thereby undermining their own monumental efforts.
#3 Poor execution of the VAR
Match officiating of the Copa America plumbed new depth in this particular game with Venezuela's Alexis Hernandez poorly managing the proceedings.
He let several aggressively remonstrating players walk scot-free by refusing to brandish a card, and also came across as rather frail in his approach in tense situations.
However, what really got the audience's goat was his frustrating execution of the Video Assistant Referee, which was called into question on two separate occasions.
On the first, the referee paused the game in the 32nd minute for an apparent handball inside the area, but did so a couple of minutes after the event took place. And then, Hernandez engaged with the video officials over the microphone long enough for us to witness the next Haley's comet, before he finally decided to review the incident on the big screen.
Next, in the second half, the Albirroja were awarded a penalty for another handball inside the box, and Hernandez straight away brandished a yellow to Abdulaziz Hatem, only to rescind it later on. Once again, he took a considerable amount of time to consult the VAR, and was instead spotted making heated exchanges with the furious Qatari players.
The Video Assistant Referee was meant to ease the officiating task and also reduce the number of mistakes by a referee. But if you don't know how to efficiently capitalize on such a facility, there will be hardly any difference.
