Argentina on Thursday maintained their unbeaten start to their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, cruising to a 3-1 victory at 10-man Venezuela, while Brazil continued their perfect start to qualifying with a seventh win out of seven as Everton Ribeiro scored the only goal in a 1-0 away victory over Chile.
In his first match for his nation since moving to Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi struggled to stamp his authority on the match in Caracas, but it mattered little.
Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring in first-half stoppage-time after Venezuela had been reduced to 10 men by Luis Adrian Martinez’s red card for a reckless challenge on Messi.
Photo: AFP
Argentina did not impress, but the extra man told in the final quarter when substitutes Joaquin Correa and Angel Correa broke through.
Venezuela did not go home empty handed, though, as Yeferson Soteldo scored a cheeky Panenka penalty deep into stoppage-time at the end of the game.
Argentina travel to Brazil tomorrow in a repeat of July’s Copa America final, which they won 1-0 to end a 28 year wait for a major trophy.
“It will be a great, important match after the final we played,” Lautaro Martinez said. “We have to rest and then approach the match like we did the Copa America final.”
Depleted Brazil were second best for much of their trip to Santiago having had 11 players prevented from joining the squad by their clubs due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
Key English-based players Alisson of Liverpool, Chelsea’s Thiago Silva and Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus were missing, but crucially Neymar, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain in France, was available.
It was his shot on 64 minutes that Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo spilled into the path of Everton Ribeiro to nick the only goal of the game.
Ecuador left it late to cement their hold on third place in the standings before beating Paraguay 2-0 in Quito.
Uruguay snatched a draw away to Peru, who climbed off the bottom, as Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s 29th-minute equalizer canceled out Renato Tapia’s opener from the hosts five minutes earlier.
Fernando Saucedo equalized seven minutes from time for Bolivia in a 1-1 draw in La Paz after Roger Martinez’s opener for Colombia on 69 minutes following a mazy run.
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