Lautaro
Martinez’s
43rd-minute
header
settled
the
contest
as
Argentina
stayed
undefeated
on
the
road
to
Qatar
2022
on
Thursday.
Peru
had
the
chance
to
snatch
a
point
away
from
home,
but
Yoshimar
Yotun’s
65th-minute
penalty
cannoned
off
the
woodwork
in
Buenos
Aires.
Lionel
Scaloni’s
Argentina
–
second
in
the
standings
–
temporarily
moved
within
three
points
of
leaders
Brazil
through
11
qualifying
fixtures.
Argentina
made
a
bright
start
to
proceedings
at
the
Monumental,
with
Rodrigo
De
Paul
in
the
thick
of
the
action
as
the
hosts
saw
two
shots
flash
across
goal
inside
four
minutes.
Gianluca
Lapadula’s
free-kick
forced
in-form
Argentina
goalkeeper
Emiliano
Martinez
into
an
early
save,
while
La
Albiceleste
found
the
back
of
the
net
in
the
ninth
minute,
but
Cristian
Romero’s
header
was
ruled
offside
following
a
lengthy
VAR
review.
In
a
team
headlined
by
Lionel
Messi,
De
Paul
continued
to
pull
the
strings
with
some
wonderful
passing
and
he
was
the
centre
of
Argentina’s
opener
prior
to
half-time.
De
Paul
played
a
neat
one-two
with
Nahuel
Molina
and
the
latter
picked
out
Lautaro
Martinez,
whose
wonderful
header
beat
Pedro
Gallese
two
minutes
before
the
break.
Jefferson
Farfan
came
off
the
bench
to
make
his
100th
international
appearance
–
the
36-year-old
becoming
the
sixth
Peru
player
to
reach
the
century
club.
He
made
an
immediate
impact,
earning
a
penalty
after
being
brought
down
by
Emiliano
Martinez
but
Yotun
rattled
the
crossbar
with
his
spot-kick.
Messi
was
largely
subdued
by
Peru,
though
his
free-kick
20
minutes
from
the
end
forced
a
save
from
Gallese.
What
does
it
mean?
Argentina
go
from
strength
to
strength
Argentina
were
on
their
knees
when
Scaloni
took
charge
of
the
embattled
South
American
giants.
Now
Copa
America
champions,
Argentina
have
not
lost
since
July
2019.
De
Paul
enhances
reputation
The
Atletico
Madrid
midfielder
has
quickly
become
a
key
part
of
Scaloni’s
XI.
De
Paul
dazzled
in
the
first
half
with
63
touches
of
the
ball
–
the
most
among
both
teams.
He
also
earned
four
fouls
while
completing
36
passes
and
four
crosses
in
the
opening
45
minutes.
Peru’s
drought
continues
Peru
have
not
gone
17
matches
without
winning
against
Argentina
in
World
Cup
qualifiers,
dating
back
to
1985.
The
result
condemned
Peru
to
back-to-back
defeats
as
they
fight
to
qualify
for
next
year’s
showpiece.
What’s
next?
Argentina
will
be
back
in
action
next
month
when
they
travel
to
Uruguay
on
November
10,
while
Peru
welcome
Bolivia
on
the
same
day.
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