Chile 0-1 Uruguay
Defending Copa America champions Chile were mere minutes away from winning Group C. They were holding main rivals Uruguay to a goalless draw, which was all they needed to finish top.
But they were unable to keep Uruguay down as Edinson Cavani came through with a brilliant game-winning header which saw them go through as group winners.
That result was a massive one for both teams in terms of their matchups for the knockout stage. Chile’s road to a third successive title just got that much more difficult as a result of that defeat, while Uruguay’s Copa America 2019 odds got a lot more promising thanks to an easier quarter-final foe.
Highlights of the game
Chile produced the first notable chance of the game in the 11th minute. After a nice flick from Alexis Sanchez, Charles Aranguiz tried his luck from distance but Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera was there to make the save.
Eduardo Vargas had another chance for Chile minutes later, although his flicked header was too weak and was easily caught by Muslera.
It was Uruguay’s turn to threaten the Chile goal on 16 minutes. The ball bounced to Rodrigo Betancur following a free-kick, but his shot was deflected for a corner.
La Celeste came up with a more dangerous chance shortly thereafter through Giorgian De Arrascaeta, who found himself with room to shoot at the edge of the box. However, the Uruguayan forward blasted his effort high above Chile keeper Gabriel Arias’ goal.
Arias finally got called into action after Luis Suarez got through on goal. The Barcelona man attempted to round Arias, but the Chile keeper recovered brilliantly to deny him.
Uruguay knocked on the door again on the ensuing corner. Arias bravely punched the ball clear from as a trio of Uruguay players attacked the ball near the six-yard box.
The ball quickly went back into the box through a fine cross by De Arrascaeta. But Chile defender Gonzalo Jara did brilliantly to beat Uruguay captain Diego Godin to the ball and headed it over the bar.
Sanchez came up with Chile’s first chance after half-time as his speculative shot from distance sailed over the goal.
Chile had another half-chance from a corner on 56 minutes. The ball was flicked on to substitute Igor Lichnovsky, who was unable to direct his effort on target.
It was Uruguay’s turn to do some last-ditch defending on 69 minutes. Paulo Diaz’s header seemed destined for the back of the net, but Jose Gimenez was on hand to head the ball away.
That goal-line clearance proved to be a pivotal one as Uruguay eventually snatched all three points eight minutes from time.
Substitute Jonathan Rodriguez found Cavani with a pinpoint cross, and the Paris Saint-Germain star placed the ball perfectly into the bottom corner of the goal with a thunderous header that will go down as one of the top Copa America 2019 highlights of the group stage.
Key statistics
Chile’s loss to Uruguay saw their current unbeaten run at the Copa America end at seven matches. It was their first loss since going down to Argentina back in 2016.
Chile will rue not taking advantage of having the upper hand for most of the match against Uruguay. The defending champions enjoyed 58 per cent of possession and completed over 100 more passes (440 to 311).
However, they had just 12 shots to Uruguay’s eight, and both had the same shots on target with three apiece.
Chile had similar problems in their 2-1 win against Ecuador when they had just 10 total shots and three on target. They will need to find a solution to this decline in shots before the start of the knockout stage if they plan to go deep in the tournament.
What’s next?
Uruguay’s win had major implications on both sides’ quarter-final matchups. By virtue of being group winners, Uruguay will face Peru, the top-ranked third-placed team. La Celeste should fancy their chances of moving on to the semi-finals in that matchup.
Meanwhile, Chile will have a much tougher challenge in the form of Colombia, who were the only team in the tournament to win all three of their group matches. Even their second-string side had enough to defeat Paraguay in their final group game.
Given Colombia’s impressive performances thus far at the Copa, it won’t be a surprise if the SBOBET odds actually favour them over the two-time defending champions.
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