Striker Eduardo Vargas scored twice to lead Chile to a 2-1 win over 10-man Peru in the semi-finals of the Copa America on Monday, keeping alive the host’s hopes of winning the South American tournament for the first time.
Vargas scored the winner with a long-range shot in the 64th minute, sending the home-crowd favorites to their first Copa America final in 28 years.
The winning score came only three minutes after Peru equalized with an own goal by defender Gary Medel. Vargas had opened the scoring in the 42nd.
Photo: AFP
Chile struggled early against their regional rivals, but the momentum shifted after Peru defender Carlos Zambrano was sent off for hitting Chilean midfielder Charles Aranguiz on the back during a challenge only 20 minutes into the match.
Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, were to meet Paraguay in the other semi-final match yesterday. The final is on Saturday.
SURPRISE PACKET
Photo: AFP
Peru were trying to win their third Copa America and first since 1975.
The team also lost in the semi-finals in 2011 to eventual champion Uruguay and finished third.
Peru had been the surprise of the tournament so far after advancing from a group that included Brazil and Colombia, both of whom have already been eliminated.
Photo: AFP
The last time Chile had made it to the Copa America final was in 1987, when they lost to Uruguay.
The Chileans have been dominant from the start of this year’s tournament, playing at home with their best team in years.
However, Peru made it difficult for the hosts at the Estadio Nacional on Monday, threatening several times on counterattacks, even after going a man down.
Vargas opened the scoring off a rebound from Alexis Sanchez’s curling shot from outside the area.
The ball struck the far post and returned straight to Vargas, who rolled it into the net.
The striker appeared to be slightly offside at the time of Sanchez’s shot, but the referee let the play continue.
Peru equalized when Medel found his own net while trying to intercept a right-side cross by Luis Advincula.
However, five minutes later, Vargas gave Chile the lead again, sending a right-footed shot from outside the area over Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, who was out of position.
It was Vargas’ fourth goal of the tournament, allowing him to surpass teammate Arturo Vidal and Peru’s Paolo Guerrero as the competition’s leading scorer.
CONTROVERSY
Vargas also had a goal disallowed for offside in the 49th, though the replay showed he appeared to be in good position to score.
Peru had the game’s first chance of the match with a dangerous header by forward Jefferson Farfan in the ninth minute. The ball struck the post with Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo already beaten on the play.
Chile was without central defender Gonzalo Jara, who was suspended for two matches for poking Edinson Cavani’s behind in the quarter-finals against Uruguay.
CONMEBOL, football’s governing body in South America, initially suspended Jara for three matches, but the punishment was reduced on appeal.
Chile, Venezuela and Ecuador are the only teams yet to win the South American championship.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS