Angel Di Maria’s seventh-minute goal gave Argentina a 1-0 victory in Montevideo on Friday to bring them closer to the Qatar 2022 World Cup finals and send Uruguay away from the qualification spots.

Without creating many positions, Argentina managed to win without Lionel Messi, who watched the match for 76 minutes from the bench and added three points that cemented it to second place in the qualifying rounds.

Uruguay showed better performance than in previous matches, they might get a different result.

In keeping with the style that led him to dedicate himself in the last Copa America, Lionel Scaloni chose eleven players with three midfielders as Rodrigo De Paul and Giovanni Lo Celso organized football.

Without Messi, Paulo Dybala has taken his stand to form an offensive partnership with Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria.

On the flip side, after several encounters with a winger on the right flank, Nahitan Nandez is back in midfield, where the brand has split with Matias Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Torreira.

Meanwhile, Luis Suarez was the area reference for the team led by Oscar Washington Tabarez, who couldn’t count on Edinson Cavani.

From the start, Celeste showed a completely different attitude from the one he had shown in previous matches, in fact, within minutes of playing goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez avoided a goal from Nandes with an amazing cover.

In the first half, Argentina approached the goal that Fernando Muslera defended only once, and the problem of the locals was that this play ended with a goal.

In seven minutes, Angel Di Maria took advantage of Joaquín Bequerez’s error at the start with a left-footed shot that left the Uruguayan goalkeeper with no options.

La Celeste did not give up and launched the attack with the encouragement of her fans. Working tirelessly, Nandez became a character.

With a close shot, Vecino came close to turning. So did Suarez, who hit the right post in the 30th minute and then failed to rebound.

At the start of the second half, the pitch continued to tilt toward the goal defended by Martinez.

Bequerez and Suarez tied in two clear matches, however, both players were slow to finish the match and were distinguished by the Albiceleste defence.

In the opposite goal, Alejandro Gomez managed to increase the score with a shot that was lost a few centimeters from the post. “Papu” had walked in a few minutes earlier with Angel Correa.

About 70 minutes, when the match was played more in the middle of the field than in the extreme ends, Messi came in instead of Lo Celso.

In a counterattack, Argentina had the second goal by Joaquin Correa, who was largely saved by Bentancur. Immediately, the Inter Milan striker came close again but Muslera brought down the blind curtain to nullify his shot.

In the end, Agustin Alvarez Martinez was on the verge of scoring twice, but Uruguay could not achieve the equality they deserved.

Argentina won 0-1 and took a new step towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while Celeste finished sixth in the standings and is already starting to think of Bolivia. (Dr)