Argentina Beat 10 Players Venezuela 3-1, But No Messi Name On The Scoreboard

Argentina won 3-1 over Venezuela (Twitter @argentina)

JAKARTA - Argentina maintained their unbeaten start in the CONMEBOL 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Lionel Messi et al won 3-1 over 10 Venezuelan players on Friday morning.

In his first game since moving to Paris Saint-Germain, Messi struggled to show his authority in the game in Caracas. However, he often failed to meet the opponent's net.

🏆 #Eliminatorias

⚽ @Argentina 🇦🇷 3 (Lautaro Martínez, Joaquín Correa y Ángel Correa) 🆚 #Venezuela 🇻🇪 1 (Yeferson Soteldo)

👉 ¡Final del partido en Caracas! 

🔜 El elenco comandado por Lionel Scaloni jugará el próximo domingo ante #Brasil 🇧🇷

¡#VamosArgentina! 💪 pic.twitter.com/lsQwyvcSya

— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) September 3, 2021

It was Lautaro Martinez who opened the scoring for the Albiceleste in the first-half injury time. That was after Venezuela played with 10 men due to Adrian Martinez's red card which violated La Pulga.

Argentina did not appear impressive. To that end, coach Lionel Scaloni made substitutions in the last third of the match. Evidently, substitute Joaquin Correa and Angel Correa broke the telenovela's national team's goal.

As for Venezuela, they didn't go home empty-handed (even though the point was still zero), because Yeferson Soteldo scored a "Panenka" penalty in injury time at the end of the match.

In another match, Brazil successfully beat Chile 1-0 so that it is still entrenched at the top of the CONMEBOL zone standings with 21 points. Meanwhile, Team Tango is in second place with 15 points from 4 wins and two draws.

The two South American giants will meet in Sao Paulo on Sunday.