Martinez bags a brace without Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez
- Argentina tops Group A at Copa America 2024 with nine points
- Lautaro Martinez scored a brace, giving him four goals in three matches
- Peru will not advance to the quarter-finals
Even without Lionel Messi and Lionel Scaloni, Argentina still defeated Peru 2-0 to remain perfect at Copa America 2024 ahead of the Knockout Stage.
Argentina already qualified for the Copa America 2024 quarter-finals after earning six points in their first two matches, therefore Lionel Scaloni rested a majority of his starters against Peru, including Lionel Messi, who is dealing with a minor injury. Instead of the traditional XI that won the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup, La Albiceleste's backups got the opportunity to show their manager what they bring to the team.
How the game unfolded
Despite no Lionel Messi, Argentina got off to a dominant start, earning four corners in the first fifteen minutes of play. Every ball delivered by Angel Di Maria was into a dangerous area, and a set piece goal felt inevitable. A Paredes free kick from 25 yards out was almost the breakthrough for the reigning champions, but Gallese managed to get a strong right hand on the powerful strike to touch it over the crossbar in the 25th minute.
Unsurprisingly, La Albiceleste maintained possession for virtually the rest of the half, probing Peru's defense as they looked for the perfect ball in the final third. Just before the halftime whistle, a clever pass by Paredes unleashed Di Maria into open space, who then laid the ball off to an overlapping Montiel. The right-back played a low cross to a wide open Lo Celso in the box, but the midfielder's shot was saved.
Peru's valiant defense only lasted three minutes into the second half. Di Maria shook off his defender, quickly turning and playing a ball through to Martinez who was in on goal and able to chip a shot over the falling keeper to go up 1-0. Argentina would momentarily double their lead less than ten minutes later off a Tagliafico goal from a corner, but the referee waived off the score for Lo Celso obstructing Gallese.
The 2022 World Cup winners had another chance to seal the game after being awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute off a blatant handball by Castillo. Paredes stepped up to take the shot, but he missed the target and hit the post, keeping the score just 1-0. It was none other than Martinez who finally gave Argentina their second goal in the 86th minute, but not without controversary; the striker pushed Corzo in the back before beating Gallese, but the goal stood, securing Argentina's 2-0 victory.
