Chile 2-0 Ecuador: La Roja secure opening match victory

Tournament hosts Chile headed into the first game of Copa America 2015 with the weight of a nation on their shoulders, hopes were high and they were eventually met thanks to goals from Champions League finalist Arturo Vidal and Napoli forward Eduardo Vargas.

Chile flew out of the blocks, creating two goalscoring chances inside the opening five minutes. First Alexis Sánchez poked inches wide of the Ecuador goal after weaving his way towards goal, before the Arsenal star almost scored again, lifting the ball into the arms of Domiguez from the corner of the box.

La Tricolor’s first chance fell in the 16th minute, as Swansea’s Jefferson Montero flashed the ball across the face of goal, unfortunately for Ecuador nobody was there to meet it. This was followed by Chile’s Claudio Bravo being tested for the first time as Fidel Martinez, of Mexican side UNAM, curled towards the far corner, Bravo met it with a firm fist away.

As the first half wore on, the game began to get sloppy. Both sides were guilty of trying to play too quickly as potential counter attacks came to nothing. This lack of patience was exemplified by the game’s first cards as Fidel Martinez and Mainz’s Gonzalo Jara were booked for unnecessary fouls. The best move of the half came after 38 minutes as ex-QPR loanee Maurice Isla played a swift one-two with Sánchez before curling narrowly wide of Dominguez’s far post.

Ecuador began the second half brightly with Montero, again involved down the left, pulling the ball back to West Ham’s Enner Valencia who hit a tame shot wide of the mark. This was followed by a surge of Chilean pressure as first Arturo Vidal and then Eduardo Vargas had efforts on goal, neither good enough to beat Dominguez.

However, in the 64th minute the best opportunity of the game arose. Sanchez switched the play to Vidal, who burst inside of the penalty area prior to going down under the challenge of Miller Bolanos. Argentine referee Nestor Pitana pointed to the spot and the man who won the penalty converted it, bending the ball into the top right corner for his 10th goal for La Roja.

The following quarter of an hour saw a return to the sloppy football of the first half. Chileans across South America thought they had won a second penalty when the referee blew as Matias Fernandez went down in the box, only to see the former Villarreal midfielder booked for simulation.

Into the final 10 minutes Ecuador came close, Walter Ayovi’s initial free kick struck the wall, but he served the ball back in to Valencia who nodded onto the crossbar of a helpless Bravo. Just two minutes later, a sloppy pass from Renato Ibarra was intercepted by Sanchez, who once again turned creator as he slipped through Vargas to double Chile’s lead, slotting the ball comfortably past the goalkeeper.

The final minutes of the match were ones to forget for Chile, Matias Fernandez built upon his earlier booking for simulation with a foolish lunge to see himself pick up a second yellow, he will now face a suspension. Despite this, Chile open the tournament with a victory and can look forward to playing Mexico in four days time. La Roja’s hunger for a first ever Copa America win will be growing by the hour.

Chile: Bravo; Isla, Medel, Jara, Mena; Diaz, Aranguiz (Pizarro 85), Vidal, Valdivia (Fernandez 67), Beausejour (Vargas 46); Sanchez

Ecuador: Dominguez; Paredes, Erazo, Achilier, Ayovi; Noboa, Lastra (Quinonez 67), Martinez (Ibarra 79), Montero; Bolanos, Valencia

Booked: Martinez; Jara, Lastra, Fernandez x2

Goalscorers: Vidal; Vargas

Man of the Match: Alexis Sanchez. While it wasn’t a vintage performance from the Gunners’ forward, he was key to almost every chance Chile had. A solid platform to build upon for the rest of the tournament.