LIMA (Reuters) – Peru beat Venezuela 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday to leave their opponents rooted to the bottom of the South American qualifying group for next year’s finals in Qatar.
Christian Cueva scored the only goal of the game after 35 minutes when he seized on a loose pass and beat the Venezuelan goalkeeper.
Venezuela’s Tomas Rincon was sent off three minutes later.
There were no more goals, though Peru substitute Christofer Gonzales had one chalked off in the second half.
Venezuela, who have gone eight games without a win, are on four points, two behind Bolivia, at the bottom of the 10-team table.
Peru moved up into seventh with eight points, equal with Paraguay.
The top four qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
