LIMA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — Peru kept alive their hopes of qualifying for a second consecutive FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 home win over Chile on Thursday.
The hosts went ahead in the 35th minute when Paolo Guerrero’s powerful shot was kept out by goalkeeper Claudio Bravo before Christian Cueva thumped in the rebound.
Sergio Pena doubled the lead just after the hour mark with a low drive from 12 yards after Yoshimar Yotun’s long-range effort rebounded off the post.
Peru now have 11 points from 10 South American zone qualifiers, four points ahead of Chile.
The top four teams in the group will automatically qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar while the fifth-ranked side will earn a playoff spot.
In other qualifiers on Thursday, Ecuador won 3-0 at home to Bolivia, Brazil beat Venezuela 3-1 in Caracas, Colombia held Uruguay to a goalless draw in Montevideo and Paraguay drew 0-0 with Argentina in Asuncion.
