Argentina beat Venezuela 3-1 to stay second in the 2022 World Cup qualification

Argentina remained in second place in the qualification for the FIFA World Cup in South America, beating Venezuela 3-1 on Thursday at the Olimpico Stadium in Caracas.

The Copa America champions played their seventh game of World Cup qualification with a man advantage after 32 minutes when Venezuelan defender Adrián Martinez was sent off after a harsh tackle on Lionel Messi.

Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, assisted by Giovanni Lo Celso. Joaquin Correa scored Argentina’s second in the 71st minute from the edge of the box after a quick exchange with Messi and Martinez. Angel Correa netted the third from close range three minutes later.

Yeferson Soteldo scored for the hosts from the spot towards the end of the match.

“Today we had a great first half and they were down one,” Martinez said. “After we scored we managed to work with more gaps so we could bring the three points home.”

Venezuela have never qualified for a World Cup. With only four points, they could finish at the bottom of the 10-team round-robin competition after seven matches. The first four will automatically qualify to play in Qatar next year. The fifth-place team will take part in an international playoff.

This round of South American qualifiers has seen several England-based players not travel due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the British government on countries in the region. Argentina, though, did not lose any of the four they called in.

Their next match will be against leaders and arch-rivals Brazil, who will be missing nine Premier League players, including five frequent starters. The Selecao are playing at Chile later on Thursday and will face Argentina in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

Had Argentina lost in Venezuela, they would have been overtaken by Ecuador, who beat Paraguay 2-0 hours earlier. Felix Torres scored the first goal in the 88th minute with a header. Michael Estrada netted his in added time. Argentina has 15 points and Ecuador 12 in third place.

Ecuador will host Chile in the next round, while Paraguay is to take on Colombia.

Colombia nearly managed to beat Bolivia in the altitude of La Paz. Roger Martinez’s goal in the 69th minute gave Colombia the lead before Fernando Saucedo’s blast from outside the box leveled for Bolivia in the 83rd minute.