East Rutherford: Lautaro Martinez scored an 88th-minute winner as Argentina beat Chile 1-0 in the Copa America quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi took charge for Argentina in the first half, but the World Cup winners had goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to thank for keeping them level before Lautaro’s late strike ended the clash in front of 82,000 fans at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
There were enough openings for the 15-time Copa America champions to advance, but poor results and an uninspired performance from Chile’s 41-year-old goalkeeper Claudio Bravo prevented them from scoring.
Home to the New York Jets and New York Giants and the venue for the 2026 World Cup finals – Argentina’s home ground – and a crowd hoping to see Messi and company start.
Messi’s strike partner Julian Alvarez forced Bravo into a save in the 22nd minute after Nicolás Gonzalez’s cross was deflected off the line.
Chile did a good job of neutralizing Messi, closing with three players on several occasions.
But the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner came inches from an opener in the 36th minute when he curled a shot from 25 yards out that clipped the post.
Chile have twice kicked Argentina out of the Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, the latter at the MetLife Stadium in reaction to Messi’s brief absence from the national team.
But while Chile has proven nothing, there is a real trickster about the world champions and the belief that they can always turn the game in their favor.
Chile threatened on the counter and twice Argentina goalkeeper Martinez had to do his best to deny Rodrigo Echeverria’s drive.
The highlight was when the Chilean failed to clear a corner from Messi and Lautaro Martinez was cleared after a lengthy VAR offset review.
Lautaro should have added a second after being dispossessed by Angel Di Maria, but in the end a single goal was enough for the World Cup winners to make it two wins from two and a place in the next round.
“I went there and I managed to score. This game is always like this, you have to approach the game like this because they will all be complicated,” Lautaro told TyC Sports.
In other Copa America action, Jonathan David scored the only goal as Canada ended their campaign with a 1-0 win over 10-man Peru in Kansas City.
Lille striker David, who is being targeted by Manchester United and Chelsea, once again showed his eye with a good strike to seal the three points at the Children’s Mercy Park Stadium.
The game, played in the heat of the sun – the temperature on the ground soared to 100 Fahrenheit (38 degrees) – saw one of the two assistant coaches collapse with heat exhaustion before halftime.
Canada, beaten 2-0 by Argentina in their tournament opener, took the lead after being reduced to 10 men in the second half due to the loss of Jacob Schaffelburg, who replaced Peru’s Miguel Araujo. players of both teams.
Referee Mario Escobar initially only gave Araujo a yellow card for a foul challenge, but the penalty was increased after a VAR review.
The layoff sealed Canada’s favor and the breakthrough ended with Daoud’s counterattack goal in the 74th minute.
Left back Schaffelburg played a great first pass to David, who didn’t take a step and buried his right hand into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Pedro Gallès.
Peru went ahead to equalize but Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepau denied Christian Cueva with a clever one-handed reflex volley before Paolo Guerrero saved in injury time.
