Alexis Sanchez on Friday put a miserable club season with Manchester United behind him as he sent Chile into the Copa America quarter-finals with the winning goal in their 2-1 win over Ecuador.
Jose Fuenzalida gave reigning champions Chile an eighth-minute lead, but Enner Valencia equalized for Ecuador from the spot.
Sanchez bagged the winner, his 43rd goal for his country, but Chile finished with 10 men after Gabriel Achilier’s red card a minute from time.
Photo: Reuters
The 30-year-old Sanchez started only nine English Premier League matches, scoring just once, in an injury-interrupted season for the Red Devils in which he struggled to make an impact when he did play.
However, he scored for the second game running in Salvador, as Chile joined Colombia as the only teams to qualify for the knockout stages after their first two games.
Afterward, he revealed that he turned his ankle during the first half, aggravating an old injury.
“I think I have a sprain, I hope it’s not too serious. At halftime they strapped it up. I played on with a bit of pain,” he said.
Chile top Group C with a perfect six points ahead of their clash with Uruguay at Rio’s iconic Maracana tomorrow.
Ecuador are left staring elimination in the face after a second straight defeat, knowing they must beat Japan in Belo Horizonte tomorrow to stand any chance of progressing.
“We put in a huge effort, but we’re making the mistake of switching off and that’s why they scored silly goals,” Valencia said. “We’ll try and beat Japan and then see where that takes us.”
Chile began as they had left off in their 4-0 thrashing of Japan on Monday, opening the scoring after just eight minutes.
Ecuador made a hash of clearing a corner and Fuenzalida sent an angled volley from the edge of the area into the far bottom corner.
Ecuador brought the same muscular approach to the game that had seen them reduced to 10 men in their opener against Uruguay — a 4-0 loss.
Sebastian Mendez found himself in the referee’s book after just three minutes for a robust challenge on Charles Aranguiz, bit it was Chile who were lucky to reach the break with a full complement after goalkeeper Gabriel Arias suffered two rushes of blood to the head.
First he clattered into Mendez inside the area, allowing Valencia to chip home the equalizer from the spot on 28 minutes.
Arias escaped further sanction and that saved him five minutes before the break, when he charged rashly out of his area to try to beat the speedy Romario Ibarra to the ball on the flank.
Ibarra went down from the slightest brush of contact and after a lengthy review delay, Arias was shown a yellow card.
In the end, referee Patricio Loustau showed nine yellow cards and a red.
“We lacked the intelligence to control the game after the first goal,” Chile coach Reinaldo Rueda said. “Ecuador reacted really well and equalized in a moment in which we lost our shape.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at