Chile overcame a resilient Ecuador side 2-0 in the opening match of the Copa América on Thursday night at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago.
The hosts were unable to break the deadlock until the 67th minute, when Arturo Vidal found the net from the spot, after Emelec striker Miller Bolaños was judged to have brought down the Juventus star on the edge of the box. The Chileans would ultimately double their lead six minutes from time and put the result beyond doubt, after Alexis Sánchez brilliantly picked out substitute Eduardo Vargas, who calmly slotted the ball past Alexander Domínguez in the Ecuador goal. The result puts Chile top of Group A, with Mexico and Bolivia still yet to play.
Jorge Sampaoli had made three changes to the team that scraped past El Salvador 1-0 in their final pre-tournament friendly, bringing in captain Claudio Bravo, Arturo Vidal and Eugenio Mena in place of Johnny Herrera, Felipe Gutiérrez and Eduardo Vargas. Gustavo Quinteros however, named an unchanged line-up from the side that dismantled Panama 4-0 in their last friendly. La Roja came racing out of the blocks in the opening exchanges, with Sánchez spurning two golden opportunities in quick succession, while Jorge Valdivia was brilliant pulling the strings in La Roja’s midfield. The Chileans were comfortably the better side in the first-half, but were left frustrated, as their final ball was often poor and threats on Ecuador’s goal were few and far between. Ecuador were only able to muster one shot on target in the first 45, when Fidel Martínez’ snapshot forced Claudio Bravo into action.
The second-half began in similar fashion to the first, with the home side looking menacing, but still unable to find a way past Gustavo Quinteros’ well-organised Ecuadoreans. His underdog team should have taken a shock lead only eight minutes into the second half, but Enner Valencia blazed his shot wide from 10 yards out after some brilliant wing-play from Swansea City speedster Jefferson Montero. Montero was a thorn in the side of the Chileans throughout the game, constantly causing problems down the left-flank, as the host’s were unable to deal with his electrifying pace and trickery. However, Chile’s frustration was finally eased after 67 minutes, when Arturo Vidal was awarded a dubious penalty after Miller Bolaños was adjudged to have pulled down the Juventus man. Chile’s No.8 calmly blasted the ball into the top corner from the resulting spot kick, giving the hosts a deserved lead.
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Ecuador continued to fight after going a goal down, and were unlucky not to have equalised nine minutes from time, when Valencia was once again presented with a golden chance, but cruelly saw his header crash against the crossbar. The West Ham star’s miss would prove costly only three minutes later, when a sloppy back pass found it’s way to Sánchez, expertly picking out QPR loanee Vargas who calmly side-footed the ball into the far corner to make the points safe for the hosts. Sampaoli’s men were dealt a blow in stoppage time when Néstor Pitana gave substitute Matias Fernández his marching orders after a second bookable offence, but the sending-off would did little to take the shine off the home side’s deserved victory.
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