Venezuela and Ecuador played out an exciting draw in matchday 3 of Group A at the 2021 CONMEBOL Copa America in Brazil.
Midfielder Ayrton Preciado opened the scoring for Ecuador in the 39th minute as Robert Arboleda picked him out with the assist in the Copa America tie.
Things were going well for the Ecuadorians as they held onto the lead to go 1-0 up at the break.
Venezuela came out of halftime much better and were quick off the blocks. Edson Castillo made it 1-1 with just six minutes elapsed in the second half. The midfielder made Ecuador’s poor defensive coverage pay as they found a way back into the game.
Ecuador then brought on Gonzola Plata in the 68th minute to bring back some control to the side and he had an immediate impact. Plata found the back of the net inside three minutes of coming onto the pitch to give Ecuador the lead once again.
However, the game was not done yet as Venezuela refused to quit. Their persistence paid dividends as Ronald Hernandez found the equaliser to put the Venezuelans on level terms once again.
They left it really late as Hernandez scored in the first minute of stoppage time in the second half to secure a point for his side.
This draw puts Venezuela one point ahead of Ecuador. This point was important for the side as it put them in the last qualification spot from Group B.
Brazil leads Group B with two wins out of two (6 points) followed by Colombia who have 4 points from their three games. Peru upset the Colombians 1-0 and that puts them in third with 3 points from 2 games.
Ecuador, however, do have a game in hand and can go ahead of Venezuela with a win over Peru on 23 June in the 2021 Copa America.
