Football: Uruguay keep WC hopes alive with defiant victory

Top Stories

Football: Uruguay keep WC hopes alive with defiant victory
Uruguay's Sebastian Coates (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Ecuador.

Montevideo - Diego Rolan slotted home a low finish on the stroke of half-time to restore the home side's lead

By AFP

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Fri 11 Nov 2016, 9:18 PM

Last updated: Fri 11 Nov 2016, 11:29 PM

Uruguay maintained their push towards the finals with a hard-fought 2-1 defeat of Ecuador at Montevideo's Estadio Centenario.
The Uruguayans took the lead on 12 minutes when former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates bundled in a corner from close range for his first international goal.
Espanyol striker Felipe Caicedo then rounded off a sweeping Ecuador counter-attack to equalise just before half-time.
But Uruguay responded immediately, Diego Rolan stabbing home a low finish on the stroke of half-time to restore the home side's lead.
Elsewhere, Copa America Centenario champions Chile had captain and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to thank for a hard-earned point in a 0-0 draw against Colombia in Barranquilla.
The Chileans, missing injured Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez, needed two superb saves from Bravo to keep Colombia at bay in a gritty game played in sweltering conditions. Bravo's display was tempered by an injury which forced the Manchester City goalkeeper off the field midway through the second half.
The stopper produced two fine blocks to deny Oscar Murillo and Miguel Borja as Colombia were struggled to break the deadlock.
In other games, Paraguay suffered a 4-1 mauling against Peru in Asuncion to derail their qualification campaign.
Paraguay took an early lead through Cristian Riveros after nine minutes but Peru hit back with second-half goals from Christian Ramos, Edison Flores, Christian Cueva and an Edgar Benitez own goal to run out convincing winners. Paraguay coach Francisco Arce attempted to put a positive spin on his team's loss.
"We're still in the race to qualify," Arce said. "We don't think we're dead, we just need to pick ourselves up and get on with it," he added. Paraguay, who are two points outside the qualifying positions, face Bolivia away in their next game.
Venezuela meanwhile scored their first win of the qualifiers with a 5-0 thrashing at home to Bolivia, with Josef Martinez scoring a hat trick. - AFP


More news from