Argentina edge Chile 1-0 to seal Copa America quarter-final place

A late goal by Lautaro Martinez gave Argentina a 1-0 Group A victory over Chile on Tuesday, making them the first team to qualify for the Copa America quarterfinals.

The reigning champions had to wait until the 88th minute to win. After a Lionel Messi corner kick, Claudio Bravo of Chile stopped Giovani Lo Celso's attempt, but Martinez was there to nail the rebound.

A lengthy VAR offside review led to the goal being allowed.

With six points after two games, Argentina leads the group; Canada is second with three points after defeating Peru 1-0 earlier on Tuesday.

Each of Chile and Peru has one point."These matches are always like this; we have to continue in the same way, treating them in this way, as they are all going to be complicated," Martinez told TyC Sports. "They set up lines of five at times; everything was tight, but we are happy that at the end of the day we ended up taking the three points, which is what we wanted to start with."The defeat increased Chile's Copa America winless run against Argentina to 30 games.

Chile have won two Copas, but they have never defeated Argentina in a regular-time match; in the 2015 and 2016 finals, they prevailed on penalties.

At MetLife Stadium, there was little to differentiate the two during a cautious opening period, but once Argentina got rolling, the game swiftly became one-sided.

Rodrigo de Paul hammered a twisting right-foot attempt just over the crossbar, while Julian Alvarez and Nicolas Gonzalez tested goalie Bravo with modest efforts.

Once more at his brilliant best, captain Messi—who contributed to both of Argentina's goals in their opening victory over Canada—nearly opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a strong low shot that struck the post.

The second half saw Argentina maintain their pressure, as Alexis Mac Allister missed a golden opportunity to connect with a Messi pin-point free kick.

In the 72nd minute, Rodrigo Echeverria fired the opening shot of the game, a strong long-range effort that Emiliano Martinez saved.

The Argentine goalkeeper, who had hardly had any work for more than an hour, had to repel attempts from Marcelino Nunez and Echeverria twice more in the next minutes.

Substitute Martinez's goal assured victory and a top-two group position, forcing the 15-time Copa America champions to lament their missed opportunities.

A two-on-one break allowed the reigning champions to conclude the game in stoppage time, but Martinez struck a close-range shot straight at Bravo.

"We have a tough group, very evenly matched; we had chances to score," Bravo said. "The next opponent is going to be tough like these two we've had. "In the group's final fixtures on Saturday, Argentina play Peru in Miami, while Chile take on Canada in Orlando.