Peru's fantastic run in the Copa America 2015 came to an end after losing to Chile in the semi-finals of the competition at Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago. With a brace from Eduardo Vargas, Chile sealed their finals berth. The final score read 2-1 after an entertaining 90 minutes.
Chile started the game on a bright note as the vocal home support egged them on.
Peru was not too far from their first goal as one of their shots hit the post as well. Farfan was the unlucky Peru player, who could have made the game even more interesting.
So much had already happened in the first 10 minutes of the game, including a yellow card to Carlos Zambrano. Things were looking good for Peru, but Zambrano's follow-through in the 20th minute caught Charles Aranguiz, which spelled disaster for Peru as the player was shown a straight red card, which is a bit harsh as it was not intentional.
The red card was sure to change the game, in which Peru were playing well. They were even forced to make a change early on with Christian Ramos coming on in the 27th minute of the game.
After some good play by both the sides, it was Chile, who took lead in the 42nd minute of the game. It was a scrappy goal scored by Vargas, after a wonderful cross was delivered by the Arsenal player, Alexis Sanchez.
Peru's 10 men were still a threat to Chile in the second half as their pressure paid off as Chile's Medel scored an own goal.
With the scores level, Peru sensed the opportunity to win the game, but their enjoyment was short lived with Vargas scoring one peach of a goal from 30 yards out. Though the deflection on the ball played a significant role in that goal, the Chilean players were happy as they inched closer to the finals.
As the game went on, Chile looked a dangerous unit as they searched for another goal. But the game changing moment has to be the red card in the 20th minute of the game, until then it was Peru, who were putting up an impressive show.
So when the final whistle blew, it was the Chilean players, who celebrated as they are set to face the winner of Tuesday's clash between Argentina and Paraguay in the second semi-final.
