Copa America: Lautaro Martinez's Late Goal Advances Argentina to the Quarterfinals
After Argentina defeated Chile 1-0 in Group A on Tuesday thanks to a late goal from Lautaro Martinez, they were the first team to guarantee their spot in the Copa America quarterfinals. The winner was not revealed to the reigning champions until the eighty-eighth minute. Following a corner kick by Lionel Messi, Claudio Bravo of Chile blocked Giovani Lo Celso's attempt, but Martinez was there to net the rebound.
After a protracted VAR review for offside, the goal stood. After two games, Argentina leads the group with six points, followed by Canada in second place with three after their 1-0 victory against Peru earlier on Tuesday. Peru and Chile each have one point.
"Everything was tight, they set up lines of five at times...but we are happy that at the end of the day, we ended up taking the three points, which is what we wanted to start with."
The defeat increased Chile's Copa America losing run against Argentina to 30 games. Although Chile has won the Copa twice, they have never defeated Argentina during normal times in the event; instead, they have defeated them on penalties in the 2015 and 2016 championship games.
In a cautious first half at MetLife Stadium, there wasn't much separating the two, but once Argentina got going, the match swiftly became one-sided. Rodrigo de Paul sent a right-footed shot just over the bar, while Julian Alvarez and Nicolas Gonzalez gently challenged goalkeeper Bravo. In the 36th minute, Captain Messi, who was involved in both of Argentina's goals in their opening victory over Canada, came dangerously close to opening the score with a strong low shot that struck the post.
Argentina increased their pressure in the second half, and Alexis Mac Allister missed a golden opportunity when Messi sent in a pin-point free kick. In the 72nd minute, Emiliano Martinez saved a strong long-range effort from Rodrigo Echeverria, which was Chile's first attempt of the game. After being idle for more than an hour, the Argentine goalkeeper was forced to make two more saves in the following minutes, stopping attempts from Marcelino Nunez and Echeverria.
The 15-time Copa America winners appeared to be condemned for their wasted opportunities, but substitute Martinez's goal secured victory and a place in the top two of the group. During stoppage time, the reigning champions had a two-on-one break to finish the game, but Martinez hit Bravo squarely from close range.
"We have a tough group, very evenly matched, we had chances to score," Bravo stated. "The next opponent is going to be tough like these two we've had." Argentina plays Peru in Miami on Saturday, while Chile plays Canada in Orlando in the group's final matchups.
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