Ben Brereton scored again, his 12th goal in 15 games for club and country, to help put Chile right back in the hunt for a spot at the 2022 World Cup.
Defeat in Peru last week left La Roja facing an uphill task in their quest to reach the finals in Qatar, but two Brereton goals in back-to-back wins over Paraguay and Venezuela have put them firmly back in contention.
They are now just four points behind Colombia, in fourth, and Uruguay, in fifth, occupying the final automatic qualification spot and the play-off berth respectively.
Erick Pulgar scored two first-half headers, before Brereton got his goal when racing on to a 73rd minute pass before finding the roof of the net from a tight angle for his third goal in Chile colours in what was his eighth cap.
Brereton started for a third consecutive game and played all but 14 minutes of the three qualifiers during the November break, and will now return to the UK to prepare for Rovers’ trip to QPR on Tuesday night.
¡YA ES GOLEADA! Ben Brereton apareció a los 72 minutos en el estadio 🏟 San Carlos de Apoquindo, y con un remate cruzado anotó el tercer gol ⚽ de Chile 🇨🇱 ante Venezuela 🇻🇪 por la jornada 12 de las Eliminatorias Sudamericanas 🏆.
— GOLPERU (@GOLPERUoficial) October 15, 2021
🎥 @MovistarDeporPe#AlientaDesdeCasa pic.twitter.com/3XNQgc1dt2
The wins have eased the pressure slightly on under-fire boss Martin Lasarte, who was keen to praise the Chile supporters for the back-to-back victories in Santiago.
“At risk of sounding, as the Spanish would say ‘like a suck-up’, the truth is that we’ve been living a party,” he said.
“Football is about people, but more than just being about people, there’s a common love between the footballers, people, supporters, singing chants, the way they encourage the team throughout the whole game and how the players communicate with supporters.
“We don’t see it everywhere, but it’s of great significance, they gave to us and we could give back to them and it’s an important part.”
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