Vinicius fires stoppage time winner for Brazil

AFP | Montevideo

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Vinicius Junior struck a winner in the ninth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 win over Colombia in their South American World Cup qualifier.

The five-times world champions had taken a sixth-minute lead in Brasilia through a Raphinha penalty only for Luis Diaz’s fine 41st-minute strike for Colombia to level the game.

Colombia enjoyed the most pressure in the second half but were ultimately sunk by the Real Madrid winger’s dramatic winner.

The victory leaves Brazil well-positioned in second place in the 10-team CONMEBOL qualifying group, four points behind leaders Argentina who travel to Uruguay yesterday.

A foul from Daniel Munoz on Vinicius resulted in the early penalty for Brazil and Raphinha, taking a short run-up, confidently slotted home the spotkick to give the home side an early lead.

But four minutes before the break, James Rodriguez found Liverpool’s Diaz on the left and the winger moved inside before driving it home into the far, bottom corner of the net.

Rodriguez had an opening in the 68th minute, after a smart move from Colombia, but the playmaker’s shot was comfortably dealt with by Alisson Becker.