Football
ESPN staff 8y

Brazil beat Venezuela, Uruguay cruise past Colombia, Argentina draw

Willian scored twice and Ricardo Oliveira added a third as Brazil beat Venezuela 3-1 to earn their first win in 2018 World Cup qualifying.

Brazil lost their opener to Chile 2-0, but Dunga's side bounced back in their second CONMEBOL qualifier.

Goals in the first and 42nd minutes from the Chelsea midfielder gave Brazil a 2-0 advantage that they wouldn't let slip away. Christian Santos got the visitors on the scoreboard in the 62nd minute, but it was too little too late against a superior Brazil.

Oliviera's 74th-minute header put things to bed for good, as Brazil prepare for their next qualifier, a Nov. 13 match in which the Selecao will visit Argentina.

Argentina remain without a win in their qualifying campaign after drawing a blank in Paraguay.

Gerardo Martino's men followed up their 2-0 home defeat to Ecuador last week with a 0-0 draw in Asuncion on their travels.

A performance that would have left Martino's players frustrated was almost salvaged by a late winner but substitute Paulo Dybala, on his debut, skied a late chance.

Argentina were without injured star forwards Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, and it showed.

Ecuador ran their qualifying record to two wins in two tries, following up a Thursday win against Argentina with a win over Bolivia by the same 2-0 scoreline. 

The Ecuadorians left it late as Miller Bolanos didn't get them on the scoresheet until the 81st minute. Felipe Caicedo added a second goal deep into stoppage time to give his team a little cushion as the clock ran down.

The match was played in a torrential downpour and the pitch was covered in water for most of the match. 

In another matchup of regional powers, Uruguay got the better of Colombia with a 3-0 win in Centenario Stadium.

Diego Godin opened the scoring for the home team in the 34th, heading home a cross in from Carlos Sanchez following a corner kick.

Diego Rolan and Abel Hernandez added second half goals, as Uruguay eased to the victory.

Injured James Rodriguez did not play for Colombia, while Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 93rd minute, but by then the match was in hand for Uruguay.

Hosts Peru will likely feel hard done after suffering a 4-3 defeat at the hands of defending Copa America champions Chile.

A Jefferson Farfan double was cancelled out by a pair of braces from Chile's Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas.

Sanchez got Chile on the board first in the seventh, minute only for Peru to score twice and then Chile to do the same to make it 3-2 at halftime.

Chile went up 4-2 with a second from Vargas, making the injury time goal from Paolo Guerrero meaningless.

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