In a thrilling 3-2 victory over Colombia in South American World Cup qualifying on Friday, Manuel Ugarte scored the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute to help Uruguay snap a five-match losing streak. Andres Gomez of Colombia tied the game for Colombia in the sixth minute of extra time, denying Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay a 2-1 victory.Substituting for an injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Uruguay sent a ball into the penalty area, and after a long video assistant referee review, Manchester United player Juan Mata scored his first international goal.
‘With the victory, Uruguay exacted vengeance for their ill-tempered semi-final loss to Colombia in July and sent the Estadio Centenario’s historic crowd into frenzy.They are now in second place, behind leaders Argentina, thanks to the win, surpassing Colombia on goal differential. Juan Fernando Quintero scored a brilliant free kick for Colombia in the 31st minute to put his team ahead. Quintero found an opening at the near post, and he superbly blasted a shot into the corner as the home defense prepared for a cross from the left side of the box. Sergio Rochet, the goalkeeper for Venezuela, had left a gap.
In the 57th minute, Uruguay equalized by a fortunate bounce of Marcelo Saracchi’s left-wing cross that hit Daniel Munoz and Davinson Sanchez’s own net after the latter tried a diving clearance. Three minutes later, Uruguay took the lead, but that goal was not a fluke. Rodrigo Aguirre dribbled past an advancing defender and blasted home after a well-executed passing sequence including Maximiliano Araujo and Mathias Olivera.
Aguirre, who plays for Club America in Mexico and has represented his country at junior level but never made it into the senior team, was visibly moved by the incident. He is 30 years old. Coach Marcelo Bielsa started him and got what he wanted because Uruguay had gone scoreless in their previous four World Cup qualifiers.
It seemed like he was going to be the night’s hero until Gomez sprang on what seemed like a stoppage-time equalizer after a goalmouth scramble, with Sanchez heading the ball into the box. But then Ugarte scored the game-winning goal, giving Bielsa’s squad its first win since July, when they defeated Canada in the Copa America third-place play-off on penalties.At home, Peru and Chile played to a scoreless draw in a matchup between the two teams occupying the lowest two spots in the group of ten qualifying teams. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Felipe Mora took down Gianluca Lapadula, and Peru was awarded a penalty. However, a video assistant referee review determined that Lapadula was offside, saving Peru’s penalty.With seven points, Peru is in ninth place, while Chile is in last place with six. Tuesday sees Peru taking against Argentina, the reigning world champions, and Chile hosting Venezuela.