Nico Gonzalez’s last-minute red card ended a puzzling contest that sees Argentina defeat Uruguay 1-0 here at Montevideo.
The game started out very slow and timid, with both sets of players looking to avoid injury and exert little effort.
Uruguay dominated possession for much of the match, though Bielsa’s side lacked a serious cutting edge in the final third and were let down by some pedestrian decision-making from their forwards and midfielders.
There wasn’t much to play for right from the beginning, but the game came to life in the second half when Alvarez laid off for Almada, who laced a first-time curled attempt straight at Rochet in the 49th minute.
Alvarez turned provider in the 62nd minute once again as his lovely pass set up Simeone for a shot on target that Rochet saved well.
In the 67th minute, Almada finally broke the deadlock with a stunning goal as he curled a lovely shot from outside the box into the top corner beyond a helpless Rochet.
Uruguay failed to find much of a response from there, and Gonzalez’s sending off for a high-boot challenge on Nandez in the last minute of stoppage time punctuated an all-around lackluster affair.
Owing to their 12 shots, Argentina ends the match with a better xG of 0.71 to Uruguay’s 0.19 xG.
Bielsa’s side travel to El Alto next, where they face Bolivia on Tuesday, while Argentina return home to Buenos Aires where they host Brazil.
After the completion of the match, Argentina’s Attacker, Thiago Almada was named the man of the match for his impressive performance against Uruguay.
The 23-year-old played for 87 minutes, completed 94% pass accuracy, had three shots at goal and netted the game’s winning goal.,
