Colombia raced towards a place in the knockout stages at the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in their Group C clash this evening.

Goals from James Rodriguez and Juan Quintero set up the victory for the South Americans, although a strike from Gervinho gave the Ivorians late hope.

Here, Sports Mole looks at the individual performances in an entertaining meeting in Brasilia.

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COLOMBIA

Goal

David Ospina: The AS Monaco keeper could have done better to prevent Gervinho's goal 15 minutes before the end of the match, but did make a number of crucial saves in the closing stages to keep Colombia ahead. (6/10)

Defence

Cristian Zapata: The left-back struggled to contain Gervinho, who focused on the left wing during the first half, and failed to stop the winger as he made his run for Ivory Coast's goal (4/10)

Mario Yepes: The Colombia captain marked his 100th international cap with victory, but came close to gifting Ivory Coast an equaliser in stoppage time when he failed to clear a through-ball from Yaya Toure, although he was carrying an injury (6/10)

Pablo Armero: Substituted after 72 minutes, the centre-back worked hard in the first half to prevent Wilfried Bony get a single touch in the Colombia box, as well as helping out Zapata with Gervinho. (7/10)

Juan Zuniga: Probably the least prominent of the back four throughout the match, Zuniga made several solid blocks and clearances in a relatively tidy if unspectacular performance (7/10)

Midfield

Carlos Sanchez: The Elche midfielder helped out in defence and made a couple of crucial clearances, as well as leaving Yaya Toure shaken after a firm but fair challenge in the first half. He did not see much action up front, but certainly made up for a couple of shortcomings at the back. (7/10)

Abel Aguilar: Aguilar had a difficult task coming up against Yaya Toure, and gave away a silly free kick on the edge of the box which could have led to an Ivory Coast goal, but was otherwise quiet before being taken off early. (4/10)

James Rodriguez: The Monaco midfielder continued his recent run of goalscoring form for his country by heading in the opener for Colombia. Before then, he had provided some fantastic deliveries for Cuadrado and Gutierrez as well as testing the Ivory Coast keeper earlier in the match. (8/10)

Juan Cuadrado: Cuadrado had far too much pace and poise for the Ivory Coast defenders throughout, being involved in almost every attacking move for Colombia, as well as providing the corner for Rodriguez's goal. Easily the best player on the pitch. (9/10)

Victor Ibarbo: Ibarbo appeared to get left out of the Rodriguez-Cuadrado tandem in the first half before exiting early in the second half with an injury in a relatively anonymous shift. (3/10)

Attack

Teofilo Gutierrez: Starting the match as the lone striker for Colombia, Gutierrez missed a sitter in the first half, but seemed to grow in confidence after the break, although he did not find the back of the net. (5/10)

Substitutes

Santiago Arias: The defender replaced Pablo Armero in the 72nd minute and immediately came under pressure as Gervinho scored just two minutes after his introduction. However, he made a couple of blocks in the closing stages to help Colombia hold on to the win. (6/10)

Alexander Mejia: Mejia replaces Abel Aguilar in the final 12 minutes but saw little action as Colombia spent the majority of the final 10 minutes defending.(4/10)

Juan Quintero: Took over from the injured Ibarbo early in the second half and scored what turned out to be the decisive goal in the 64th minute. He could have bagged a second with an audacious lob late on, but saw the shot saved. (8/10)

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IVORY COAST

Goal

Boubacar Barry: The keeper never looked entirely comfortable between the posts for Ivory Coast but made four saves to keep the team in contention until the very end, including a late effort for Quintero which would have surely sealed a Colombia win (5/10)

Defence

Arthur Boka: With Rodriguez and Cuadrado focusing their attack down the right, the left-back had a quiet night compared to his defensive opponents, but was solid when called upon. However, he was the man on the line for Rodriguez's goal, but failed to react to the Colombian's header (7/10)

Didier Zokora: Zokora made a bright start to the match but made a costly error when he brought down Cuadrado, earning himself his second booking of the tournament to rule him out of the final group game. (6/10)

Serge Aurier: Playing more of a wing-back role than a true defensive position, Aurier bridged the gap from the back to the Colombia box on several occasions and had Ivory Coast's best chance in the first half, forcing a save from Ospina. (8/10)

Souleymane Bamba: Colombia identified Bamba as a potential weak link early on and peppered him. He failed to make a number of clearances and was caught scrambling on more than one occasion, so will have to improve if he wants to keep his place for the third game. (2/10)

Midfield

Ismael Tiote: Playing a defensive midfield role, Tiote did not command the attention of some of his teammates, but did put in a clinical if unremarkable shift, although he was booked for a reckless challenge in stoppage time. (6/10)

Gervinho: Ivory Coast's goalscorer was their best player this evening, proving a thorn in the side of the Colombia defence throughout, particularly when creating his fantastic goal. Although he had a couple of shots himself, the former Arsenal man also had a couple of crosses as he tried to set up his teammates. (8/10)

Max Gradel: The former Leeds United midfielder was lively in the first half and had a couple of decent strikes early in the second half but ran out of energy, being replaced with more than 20 minutes still to play. (7/10)

Yaya Toure: While Gervinho will take the headlines, Toure was commanding as ever in midfield. However, he wasted a couple of chances from close-range free kicks, and could have scored a late equaliser when he was through on goal, but David Opsina beat him to the ball. (7/10)

Serey Die: It was an emotional night for the midfielder, who was moved to tears during the national anthem while thinking about his late father, who died in 2004. It was a decent display from Die, who teamed up Gervinho on several occasions as well as taking on a curling effort from the edge of the box just before the break. (7/10)

Attack

Wilfried Bony: The Swansea City man did enough in the first game to keep Didier Drogba on the bench, but was kept quiet this evening, failing to touch the ball inside the Colombia box in the first half. He had a chance in the second half but scuffed it before being replaced by the veteran. (2/10)

Substitutes

Didier Drogba: Replacing Bony for the final half-hour, the former Chelsea man certainly provided more presence up front, and had a couple of half chances, but was ultimately unable to find the equaliser. (6/10)

Salomon Kalou: Taking over from Gradel in the 67th minute, Kalou had a great chance to level the scores late on, put his shot lacked power to leave Ospina with a comfortable save and was otherwise pretty quiet (5/10)

Mathis Bolly: Playing just over 15 minutes after replacing Serey Die, the striker played more as a winger than a full forward, testing Colombia with some pace down the right. (7/10)

Written by
Sian Cowper