What's one shady goal when you score four?

Uruguay shrugged off the controversy surrounding its opening goal to seal a thrilling 4-2 win over Peru in its World Cup qualifier on Sunday while Ecuador enjoyed a 1-0 win over Colombia.

The win lifted Copa America holder Uruguay into second place in the South American group, a point behind leader Chile and one ahead of Argentina, while Ecuador's win in Quito saw it climb to fourth.

Uruguay took the lead after 15 minutes in controversial fashion, centerback Sebastian Coates' goal-bound header looked to be touched on by striker Luis Suarez and Peru's Antonio Gonzales tried to block the ball on the line.

Peru coach Sergio Markarian said he had been told the ball had not crossed the line, and that there was also a hint of offside about Uruguay's second.

"I got (telephone) calls that tell me the ball didn't go in for the first goal. They tell me that for the second goal there is offside," Markarian said, referring to Maxi Pereira's strike on the half hour that put the home side two up.

Peru got back on level terms with an own goal from Uruguay defender Diego Godin and a volley from striker Paolo Guerrero on either side of halftime.

Diego Forlan had a penalty saved by Peru's Diego Penny, but the Uruguayans romped home with goals from substitutes Cristian Rodriguez and Sebastian Eguren to complete their third four-goal haul in five matches.

Markarian would not judge Brazilian referee Leandro Vuaden's performance but said the loss was hard to swallow.

"I'm not going to make a value judgment over the refereeing, nor do I want to stain Uruguay's victory, which was fair without doubt, but I'm left with a sour taste, a hard defeat," he said.

Uruguay coach Oscar Washington Tabarez was full of praise for the performance of injury-hit Peru, whose hopes of reaching its first World Cup finals since 1982 dimmed as it props up the table with three points.

"Peru showed they're a team who are alive. They went out to fight for a win, creating problems with a high degree of efficiency, scoring twice and they had two or three more chances," he said.

"We're very satisfied to have managed this triumph, which was so difficult, and I think it shows clearly how much parity there is in South American football.

"No match is won or decided beforehand."

Tabarez's comments could also have described the match in Quito, nearly 3,000m above sea level, where Ecuador once again made its advantage in the rarefied air pay off with its third victory in five qualifiers.

Striker Cristian Benitez headed the only goal nine minutes after halftime leaving Colombia coach Jose Pekerman with plenty of work to do to lift his team from sixth place in the next two rounds in September.

Reuters in Montevideo, Uruguay

(China Daily 06/12/2012 page22)