Brazil withstands Chile pressure to reach Copa America semi-finals

Brazil withstood Gabriel Jesus’ dismissal at the start of the second half to beat Chile 1-0 last night and advance to the Copa America semi-finals.

Hosts Brazil play Peru, who beat Paraguay on penalties, in the semi-finals at the Nelton Santos Stadium on Monday.

The quarter-final matches will continue on Saturday, with Argentina playing Ecuador and Uruguay against Colombia.

It was an even match, despite the fact that Brazil, which has not lost the last 11 games, took the lead in Group B, and Chile was satisfied with fourth place in Group A, and they drew 1-1 in four of the last six matches.

After the first half without goals, the match came to life immediately after the break, as substitute Lucas Paqueta exchanged the ball with Neymar and then kept it despite the intervention of Gary Medel to hit the goal from close range.

Less than two minutes later, the match took another turn when Gabriel Jesus was sent off, who raised his foot in the face of Eugenio Mina.

Chile forced their opponents back in defense for most of the second half, but the 2015 and 2016 champions failed to equalise.

The crossbar hit a header from Chile’s Ben Brierton, who replaced Alexis Sanchez at the start of the second half, and Brazil goalkeeper Ederson saved two chances.

“We lost against the favorites who play at home,” said Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal. “At least we can come out with our heads held high.”