Paraguay shock Argentina; Brazil top standings; Colombia, Uruguay draw

Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2016 by ESPN

Paraguay shock Argentina; Brazil top standings; Colombia, Uruguay draw
A frustrated Paulo Dybala gestures to his teammates in an Argentina loss to Paraguay.

Paraguay shocked Argentina in Cordoba, running out 1-0 winners in their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier as the Albiceleste played without Lionel Messi once again.

The visitors jumped out to a dream start as Derlis Gonzalez put his right-footed shot past Sergio Romero in the Argentina goal, with the assist coming from Angel Romero.

Argentina got a break early in the second half, as Paulo Silva was whistled for handball in the penalty area, but Sergio Aguero's effort from the spot was saved by Justo Villar.

The hosts pressed hard for an equaliser down the stretch, with Gonzalo Higuain and substitute Paulo Dybala both going close in the closing minutes, but Paraguay held on for the unlikely win to further dent Argentina's qualifying campaign.

Argentina are undefeated with Messi in the lineup, but have only won once in seven tries without their talisman.

Paraguay shock Argentina; Brazil top standings; Colombia, Uruguay draw
Gabriel Jesus celebrates after opening the scoring for Brazil against Venezuela.

Brazil made relatively short work of Venezuela beating them 2-0 on the road in Merida.

Playing without the suspended Neymar, the Brazilians didn't miss a beat, as Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring for the visitors in the eighth minute with a right-footed shot from distance to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

And Brazil would double the lead early in the second half as Willian blasted home from six yards out following a pass into the area from Renato Augusto.

The win puts Brazil at the top of the CONMEBOL WCQ standings, edging them ahead of Uruguay.

Fernando Mina's 84th-minute goal helped Colombia to a 2-2 draw with Uruguay in Barranquilla.

The hosts had started brightly, with Abel Aguilar heading home the opener for Colombia in the 15th minute, but Uruguay's Cristian Rodriguez had the match back on level terms ahead of the half-time break with a 27th minute header of his own.

Cristhian Stuani headed a pass to Luis Suarez in the 73rd minute and the Barcelona striker put his country back on top briefly.

With full-time approaching, Mina was able to reach a cross into the penalty area from Juan Cuadrado and head home past Fernando Muslera to salvage a point for Colombia.

Enner Valencia's goal at the death earned Ecuador a point in a 2-2 draw against Bolivia.

Ecuador, who finished with 10 men, were minutes away from leaving La Paz with nothing to show for it when Valencia struck for the second time on the night.

Pablo Escobar had the hosts in great shape at the break after scoring twice in the opening 45 minutes to give Bolivia a 2-0 half-time lead.

But Valencia struck early in the second half and then again in the 89th minute to keep Ecuador firmly in the picture for a berth at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

With their qualifying campaign on life support, Chile earned a huge 2-1 win against a very pesky Peru side.

Arturo Vidal headed home from a Mauricio Isla cross in the 10th minute to put the hosts up early.

However, Edison Flores levelled for Peru in the 76th minute, but Vidal scored again in the 85th minute to secure all three very needed points for Chile.

Vidal has now scored Chile's last five consecutive goals during qualification.