Argentina faced Ecuador at home in Buenos Aires with the knowledge that a win would send them into first place in CONMEBOL qualifying. The answer for Argentina was four-fold: attackers Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, and Lionel Messi (pictured, blue). Twenty minutes in, Argentina found themselves on the break. Messi passed to Di Maria who passed to Aguero who passed a shot into the goal for a 1-0 lead. Within ten minutes, Argentina once again found themselves on the break, with Messi running in from midfield then passing to Higuain, who passed another shot into the goal for a 2-0 lead for the Albiceleste. A whole two minutes later, Argentina again ran the break. This time, Messi dribbled from midfield, passed to Higuain, who passed to Messi, who then shot into the goal for 3-0. The scoreline held through the half.
In the second period, Messi stole the ball deep in his attacking end and broke for a shot which was block into the path of substitute Jose Sosa. Sosa slotted a ball back across the box, and Di Maria struck the net for a 4-0 lead for Argentina. Argentina were completely dominant during the match and did their damage off a counterattack built to perfection. With the victory, Argentina go top of the table with eleven matches left in their campaign.
Argentina 10 pts +7
Chile 9 pts -1
Uruguay 8 pts +6
Venezuela 8 pts 0
Ecuador 6 pts -1
Colombia 4 pts 0
Paraguay 4 pts -3
Peru 3 pts -2
Bolivia 1 pts -6
Goals
Argentina
Sergio Aguero 20
Gonzalo Higuain 29
Lionel Messi 31
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