Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Uruguay overrun Colombia to win World Cup qualifier 3-0

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2022 South American Qualifiers - Colombia v Uruguay - Estadio Metropolitano R. Melendez, Barranquilla, Colombia - November 13, 2020 Uruguay's Luis Suarez celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Uruguay's Edinson Cavani scored early and fellow striker Luis Suarez converted a second-half penalty, his fourth in three games for his country, as they beat Colombia 3-0 in Friday’s World Cup qualifier.

Cavani got the opener in the fifth minute after Nahitan Nandez had done the hard work in midfield by robbing the ball and setting him up to fire home a low right-foot shot.

Suarez then added to the lead nine minutes into the second period when he scored from the spot after Jeison Murillo brought down Rodrigo Bentancur.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2022 South American Qualifiers - Colombia v Uruguay - Estadio Metropolitano R. Melendez, Barranquilla, Colombia - November 13, 2020 Colombia's James Rodriguez in action with Uruguay's Lucas Torreira REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

Darwin Nunez completed the scoring after 73 minutes when his pot shot from 25 metres beat the diving David Ospina.

Yerry Mina was sent off for Colombia after a second yellow card in the final minute of the game to complete a miserable afternoon for the home side.

Suarez's goal was his 63rd international strike and came after he scored twice from the penalty spot in Uruguay’s 4-2 loss to Ecuador and once in their 2-1 win over Chile in their opening qualifier last month.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2022 South American Qualifiers - Colombia v Uruguay - Estadio Metropolitano R. Melendez, Barranquilla, Colombia - November 13, 2020 Uruguay's Darwin Nunez celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

The victory takes Uruguay to six points after three games, while Colombia, who beat Venezuela and drew away to Chile in their first two games, have four.

The top four sides in the 10-team South American group qualify automatically for the Qatar 2022 finals and the fifth-placed team go into an inter-regional playoff.

Uruguay now travel home to face Brazil on Tuesday when Colombia will be away to Ecuador.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2022 South American Qualifiers - Colombia v Uruguay - Estadio Metropolitano R. Melendez, Barranquilla, Colombia - November 13, 2020 Colombia players look dejected after the match REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.