Caracas: Argentina bolstered their World Cup qualifications with a 3-1 win over Venezuela extending their unbeaten run to 21 games. Elsewhere, Brazil secured a late 1-0 win over Chile with Everton Ribeiro scoring the only goal of the tie.
Argentina returned to South American World Cup Qualifiers soaring high on confidence after winning the Copa America for the first time since 1993. The flair from their near-perfect Copa America campaign was still evident as they dominated Venezuela who were reduced to 10 men after Adrian Martinez was sent off following a heavy tackle on Lionel Messi.
The Albiceleste broke the deadlock in the first-half additional time when Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez relayed a Giovanni Lo Celso assist into the net. Martinez himself assisted the second goal as Joaquin Correa drove and shot past the Venezuelan custodian Wuliker Farinez on 71 minutes.
The third came from Angel Correa’s rebound after Martinez was denied by Farinez. Argentine custodian Emiliano Martinez had almost walked away with a clean sheet until the visitors conceded a penalty in the dying minutes of the game after Yeferson Stoledo was fouled by Papu Gomez with Stoledo reducing the margin for Venezuela.
Brazil were missing the services of eight first-team players like Roberto Firmino, Allisson Becker, Fabinho, Gabriel Jesus, Ederson, Fred, Thiago Silva and Richarlison after the Premier League abstained their internationals to travel to Brazil which is on the United Kingdom’s red-list.
The team struggled from the onset to register a mark as Chile held on to them tightly in a hope to change the results from last time when they faced in the Copa America quarterfinals. The relief came at the 64th minute when Ribeiro netted following a Neymar pass to him giving Brazil the much needed advantage.
Bolivia shared points with Colombia while Ecuador bagged a 2-0 win over Paraguay. Brazil will be taking on Argentina next on September 6 in a attempt to turn the tables since Copa America final where Angel Di Maria’s goal saw Brazil lose their hands on the trophy.
