Peru celebrtate their first win, Venezuela rescue a point against Ecuador

The opening game of the day in Río de Janeiro was a rollercoaster with a dramatic late twist. Venezuela picked up their second consecutive draw with a last minute equalize in a 2-2 draw against Ecuador.

With goals from Ayrton Preciado and Gonzalo Plata, Gustavo Alfaro’s side was minutes away from picking up their first win when Ronald Hernández headed a late winner, connecting with a superb Castillo cross. 27 year old Edson Castillo had already equalized for Venezuela earlier in the game on what was an excellent debut.

The equalizer leaves Ecuador on just 1 point albeit with a game in hand. Venezuela, on the other hand, have 2 points from 3 games with a rest day coming up in the next round of fixtures.

NUMBERS FROM THE GAME

• Ecuador are now seven games unbeaten against Venezuela in all competitions (3 wins, 4 drws). The last victory of the Vinotinto against the Ecuadorians was in the CONMEBOL Copa América 2011.

• Venezuela end a streak of three consecutive games without scoring in the CONMEBOL Copa América. This result means Venezuela avoid matching their worst run goal draught in the tournament; four games without scoring between 2001 (three games) and 2004 (one game).

• Ecuador scored two goals and picked up at least one point in a CONMEBOL Copa América match against a CONMEBOL rival for the first time since the 2016 when they also drew 2-2 but on that occasion against Peru.

• Ecuador played 551 pases against Venezuela. This is the msot passes by an Ecuadorian side in the CONMEBOL Copa America since 2011.

• Pervis Estupíñan crossed the ball into the box 11 times against Venezuela. This is the joint most crosses by an Ecuacdorian at the Copa America since 2011; Jefferson Montero also crossed the ball 11 times against the United States in 2016.

DATA: OPTA

 – Peru’s first win of the tournament –

Later in Goiania, Perú secured a hard-fought first three points in the CONMEBOL Copa América with a 2-1 win against Colombia.

Sergio Peña gave Peru the lead from close range in the first half before Miguel Borja won and converted a penalty just after the break. Shortly after Ecuador whipped a dangerous cross into the box which Yerry Mina inadvertedly deflected beyond Ospina and cover the Colombia goal line.

With the win Perú move into third place with 3 points behind leaders Brazil who have 6. Colombia are in second with 4 points.

NUMBERS FROM THE GAME

• Peru ended a 10 game streak without beating Colombia (4 wins, 6 losses) across friendlies, qualifiers and CONMEBOL Copa América. During that period Peru had failed to score more than once in any game. Prior to tonight, Peru’s last victory over Colombia came in the 2011 Copa América (2-0).

• Peru have lost only two of the 17 games played against Colombia in the CONMEBOL Copa América (8 wins, 7 draws). With today’s result, they are now undefeated in five games against Colombia in the competition (2 wins, 3 draw). The last win for los cafeteros against Peru was back in 2001 (a 3-0 victory).

• Colombia end a run of 7 games unbeaten in the CONMEBOL Copa America (5 wins, 2 draws) with their last defeat in 2016 against Chile. Furthermore, this is the first defeat since Reinaldo Rueda was appointed manager (5 games, 2 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss).

• Peruvian Sergio Peña’s goal ended a 7 game run of clean sheets for Colombia in the Copa America (5 wins, 2 draws). This was the second longest streak in the history of the tournaent; Colombia are the record holders with 8 games between 2001 and 2004.

• Miguel Borja (Colombia) has scored two goals in five games for Colombia in 2021, making him the only player to score in qualifiers and at the CONMEBOL Copa América. For Junior Borja scored 14 goals in 22 games across the Liga BetPlay 2021-I (8 i 14) and CONMEBOL Libertadores (6 en 8).

DATA: OPTA