Brazil Beat Uruguay to Stay Top

Arthur and Richarlison's first half goals gave Brazil a 2-0 victory on Tuesday in Uruguay and maintained their 100 percent record in the Qatar 2022 South American World Cup qualifiers.

Via COVID-19 and injury, Brazil were missing a host of players, including talismanic striker Neymar, but they were too strong for their rivals, who have not beaten them since 2001, reports Reuters.

After 34 minutes, Arthur got the opener when his shot was cruelly deflected from outside the box past Uruguayan keeper Martin Campana and then Richarlison glanced a header into the net a few seconds before half time from a short corner.

Uruguay hit the woodwork twice in the first half, missing Luis Suarez after he tested positive for COVID-19, but their unfortunate night was confirmed when the Video Assistant Referee persuaded the officials at 71 minutes to send Edinson Cavani off for a mistimed tackle on Richarlison.

Uruguay tried to fight and with a quarter of an hour remaining, Martin Caceres saw his near shot reach the net, only to be disallowed by the Chilean referee.

The Montevideo win was Brazil's fourth in a row in the qualifying stage and means that they are the only side to have won all their opening matches in the 10-team South American group.

In March 2021, the qualifiers will resume once again.

In the division, the top four teams qualify for Qatar 2022 automatically and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.