Copa America 2015 - Chile 1-0 Uruguay: 5 talking points
Mauricio Isla’s late goal ensured hosts Chile beat nine-man Uruguay and moved into the Copa America semi-finals. In a game that resembled a battlefield at times, Chile dominated the possession before finally finding the goal to knock out the holders.Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas came close to opening the scoring before Edinson Cavani was given his second yellow and sent off after 63 minutes. With time running out, Isla smashed home the winning goal after being set up by Jorge Valdivia. A bad night got worse for the holders who finished the match with nine men after Jorge Fucile was also sent off after receiving his second booking.Here are the major talking points from the game -
#1 Chile vanquish their demons
Chile might have scored the most goals and been the best team in the tournament, but had plenty of history to overcome if they were to reach the semi-finals. Although the last decade has been the country’s most consistent, in terms of performances, their inability to win knockout games has been a worry.
In four of the past five tournaments, the hosts have been eliminated at the quarter-finals, thrice by Uruguay. Their record against Uruguay is nothing to write home about and La Roja have not beaten their opponents at the Copa America since 1983.
Yet, on a day when they finished with 80% possession, Jorge Sampaoli’s men ensured that there were no slip-ups on their way to a semi-final against either Bolivia or Peru, which will be their first since 1999.