Humberto Grondona’s under-20s came through the opening fixture of the South American championships final group stage with a comfortable victory against Peru. When the two sides met last week in Group A the match finished 6-2 and although there was not the same glut of goals, the superiority was the same. Gio Simeone thumped in his seventh goal of the tournament with barely a minute on the clock when he finished off a quick break and the result was sealed in the 77th minute when captain, Ángel Correa curled in a sumptuous shot from outside the box. Peru will arguably be the easiest match of the final but it made the result all the more important ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Colombia. Grondona was publicly angered by some of his sides defending in their first round victories so he will be pleased with the first clean sheet of the tournament and with Simeone and Correa finding the net Argentina remain very strong contenders.

Argentina  2 – 0  Peru