Lionel Messi opened the scoring as Argentina thumped neighbors Uruguay 3-0 in an entertaining World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
Goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez rounded off a successful night for Lionel Scaloni's team in Buenos Aires as they maintained their unbeaten start to the qualification campaign and closed the gap at the top of the single South American table to six points behind Brazil, who drew 0-0 with Colombia.
“We played a great match, I think we're improving a lot,” said Messi.
“It was a tough match and we had to win it. Uruguay sit back and are dangerous.
“Once we scored the first goal we started to find spaces and many appeared,” he added.
The first half was a classic end-to-end thriller with both sides hitting the woodwork before Argentina opened the scoring.
It could have been worse for Uruguay but Muslera made a fine double save from Angel Di Maria and Messi in the last minute.
This article was most recently revised and updated 3 years ago
