Without Messi, Argentina still won easily to stay top of Group A

Without captain Lionel Messi due to injury, Argentina still easily defeated Peru 2-0 in the final match of Group A of Copa America 2024.

 

Lautaro Martinez scored twice to help Argentina win all matches in the group stage – Photo: Reuters

Before this match, Argentina had already secured a ticket to the quarterfinals, so Messi’s absence did not make the Tango fans too worried. Especially against an opponent Peru, who was rated lower, Argentina did not waste too much energy.

From the first minutes, Argentina always took the initiative and created many dangerous opportunities. But their strikers could not penetrate the net of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese ( Peru ).

It was not until the 47th minute that Lautaro Martinez scored the goal that put Argentina ahead 1-0, with a cool escape from the offside trap to finish past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. In the 69th minute, Argentina had another golden opportunity when they were awarded a penalty, after a Peruvian defender handled the ball in the penalty area.

But on the 11m mark, Leandro Paredes fooled goalkeeper Pedro Gallese but the goal was denied by the post.

In the 86th minute, Lautaro Martínez once again shone with a goal to increase the score to 2-0 for Argentina. This is also the final result of the match, although Peru tried very hard in the last minutes but could not score an honorable goal.

In the other match, Canada held Chile to a 0-0 draw. This was a match in which Chile was reduced to 10 men from the 27th minute, after Suazo received a second yellow card and was sent off. With this result, Canada finished second in Group A with 4 points and they will join Argentina in the quarterfinals.