Edison Flores' lone strike helped Peru to fourth place in the points table with 20 points while Colombia are at sixth spot.
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Peru defeated Colombia 1-0 courtesy of substitute Edison Flores’ late strike at Estadio Metropolitano on Friday. The win helped Peru to move to fourth in the CONMEBOL 2022 World Cup qualifiers points table. It was Colombia who had the majority of ball possession and created the better chances but failed to break the deadlock. Elsewhere Salomon Rondon netted a hat-trick as Venezuela thrashed Bolivia 4-1 at Estadio Agustin Tovar. The win helped Venezuela to keep their Qatar 2022 dream alive.
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La Fecha 1⃣5⃣ finalizó con dos partidos llenos de emociones ?#EliminatoriasSudamericanas pic.twitter.com/gQ3NHHz1Sn
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) January 29, 2022
Five minutes from time, Flores raced clear on the left, entered the penalty area and beat Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina at the near post with a low shot to snatch an unlikely win for Peru.
Colombia have failed to find the back of the net for a sixth consecutive match. Porto winger Luis Diaz who is close to joining Liverpool went on a mazy run towards the end of the first half and sent a shot comfortably over the crossbar with around ten minutes to go as Colombia endured their second defeat on that six-game run.
Former Real Madrid player James Rodriguez also saw plenty of the ball and came closest when he thundered a strike wide during seven minutes of additional time. Steven Alzate saw his second-half cross from inside the penalty box almost deflect beyond Pedro Gallese, who made a brilliant reflex save to parry the danger behind.
After the defeat, Colombia dropped to sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Peru, who did not manage a shot in the first half. The home side paid for their same lack of clinical finishing that had blighted their previous five games. Of 26 shots at goal only two were on target.
Meanwhile it was the third win in a row for Peru and they are now on 20 points, a point ahead of fifth-placed Uruguay. The top four teams qualify automatically to Qatar, with the fifth-placed side entering the playoff with a team from Asian confederation. Brazil and Argentina have already ensured qualification and third-placed Ecuador are almost certain to join them.
