Already qualified, Argentina secured a 2-0 victory without forcing on Saturday against Peru for the third and final day of the Copa America group stage, allowing themselves to leave their captain Lionel Messi on the bench.
The defending Argentines were welcomed into a Hard Rock Stadium in Miami by a sea of blue and white supporters. For Peru, victory was imperative to hope for qualification. Local fans, who have watched Lionel Messi play at Inter Miami since last year, have this time been deprived of the presence of the Argentine talisman, left to rest.
Martinez did the job
After their two victories against Canada and Chile, the Albiceleste were already qualified and took a long time to get going, the first big opportunity arriving only in the 44th minute with a strike in the axis from Giovani Lo Celso. But the former Parisian slipped in his momentum, lacking power in his shot.
The Argentinians, led by Angel Di Maria as captain for the evening, finally found the back of the net after the break with a goal from Lautaro Martinez in the 47th minute. The Inter (Milan this time) striker scored with a little lob over the Peruvian goalkeeper. Video assistance then disallowed a goal in the 55th minute for Lyon’s Nicolas Tagliafico for an obstruction on the goalkeeper by Lo Celso. Another former Parisian, Leandro Paredes, tried to double the lead in the 72nd minute on a penalty, but his heavy strike crashed against the right post.
It was finally Lautaro Martinez who came to completely destroy Peru’s hopes of qualifying in the 86th. With this double, the 26-year-old striker scored his fourth goal in three games of this edition of the Copa America. The Argentines are full of confidence with nine points from three games and will meet the team that came second in Group B in Houston (Texas), Thursday evening at 20:00 local time (01:00 GMT Friday).
Chile stumbles on Canada
In the other Group A match, Chile also had to win to get ahead of Canada, the evening’s opponents, but ultimately did no better than a rather poor 0-0 draw. Canadian defender Moïse Bombito was lucky not to receive a red card in the 5th minute after elbowing Chilean Echevarria in the throat. It was finally Chile who were reduced to 10 in the 27th, after a second yellow card issued to left-back Gabriel Suazo for a push in the back.
The “Canucks” will face the leaders of Group B (currently Venezuela before the third day) on Friday in Arlington (Texas) at 8:00 p.m. local time (01:00 GMT Saturday).
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