The Peruvian team defeated Venezuela 1-0 in an intense match played at the National Stadium in Lima that closed the sixth day of the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2021 World Cup.
A lone score by midfielder Christian Cueva, 34 minutes into the game, allowed Blanquirroja to climb to seventh place in the standings, with 8 points, while leaving Venezuela at the bottom of the table, with only 4 points.
At Nacional de Lima, both teams played a very nerve-racking and highly friction game, to the point that Venezuela was left with ten men in the 37th minute, when the referee sent Tomás Rincón off for a double warning.
La Vinotinto surprised at the beginning of the actions when they went out to the field of play determined to challenge Peru, with their lines in the midfield, fast passes and always looking for the moving Jefferson Soteldo.
The locals tried to quiet the ball and had their first options with a header from Edison Flores that was well saved by Wuilker Fariñez and a deep entry from Gianluca Lapadula that crashed into the right side of the rival goal.
Peru pressed the march and took full control of the actions towards 20 minutes, when Lapadula fought a ball in the Venezuelan area and sent a soft cross for the entry of André Carrillo, whose goal shot was cleared over the baseline by Oscar González.
La Vinotinto replied with a powerful shot from Jefferson Savarino, which went high after defender Anderson Santamaría failed to deliver a ball at the exit of the Peruvian bottom.
However, when 34 minutes were played, Cueva managed to violate the Venezuelan defensive network with a shot placed almost from the penalty spot after stealing a ball after an error in the exit of Villanueva.
Three minutes later, Rincón received a second yellow card after a strong tackle on Cueva, and after receiving a first warning for a violent tackle against Lapadula.
With the goal in their favor, the Peruvians tried to control the ball until the end of the first half, although Venezuela had another option at 42, when Soteldo sent a shot on goal that was well controlled by Gallese.
In the second half, the match was again very stuck, with constant fouls and risk actions in both goals, wasted due to lack of precision in the final shot or clear advanced positions.
At 52, Fariñez sent a powerful shot from Marcos López to the corner kick and two minutes later Gallese also showed all his reflexes to block another powerful shot from José Martínez.
Although Peru was able to increase the count to 64, with a shot from González that was canceled by an advanced position by Lapadula, Venezuela also fought for a better result and sent the Peruvians through several hot flashes in the final minutes.
– Data sheet:
1. Peru: Pedro Gallese, Luis Advíncula, Anderson Santamaría, Alexander Callens, Marcos López, Renato Tapia (m.83, Wilder Cartagena), Yoshimar Yotún (m.60, Christopher González), Edison Flores (m.60, Raziel García), André Carrillo , Christian Cueva (m.73, Raúl Ruidiaz) and Gianluca Lapadula (m.73, Paolo Guerrero).
Selector: Ricardo Gareca.
0. Venezuela: Wuilker Fariñez, Nahuel Ferraresi, Mikel Villanueva (m.45, Jhon Chancelor), Júnior Moreno (m.82, Edson Castillo), Óscar González, Jefferson Savarino (m.82, Eduard Bello Gil), Ronald Hernández, Tomás Rincón, Yeferson Soteldo (Otero), John Murillo (m.42, José Martínez) and Eric Ramírez.
Selector: Leonardo González.
Goal: 1-0, m.34: Christian Cueva.
Referee: The Ecuadorian Luis Quiroz, admonished Tomás Rincón, Christopher González and Paolo Guerrero. He expelled at 37, by double warning, Tomás Rincón.
Incidents: Match for the sixth day of the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup held at the National Stadium in Lima with a capacity of 8,000 people due to restrictions due to the pandemic. EFE (HN)