Soccer-Vinicius helps Brazil to 4-1 Copa America win over Paraguay | The Mighty 790 KFGO

(Reuters) -Brazil’s Vinicius Junior scored twice in a 4-1 Copa America win over Paraguay in Group D in Nevada on Friday, after bouncing back from a lacklustre performance in his first match of the tournament.

Colombia, who have qualified for the quarter-finals, top Group D with six points from two games, while Brazil are second with four points.

Costa Rica are third with one point and Paraguay, bottom with zero after two defeats, have been eliminated from the competition.

From the whistle, Vinicius’ pace and trickery were a constant threat to Paraguay down the left flank – a far cry from his performance in Brazil’s 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in their opening group stage match, where he had little impact.

Despite Brazil’s strong start, it was Paraguay that almost took the lead in the 15th minute when Damian Bobadilla’s goal took a huge deflection off Eder Militao and almost wrong-footed Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who showed quick reflexes to keep the attack outside hold.

Brazil were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute for a handball that Lucas Paqueta shot wide, but the midfielder atoned for his miss seven minutes later by passing Vinicius the ball in one go to complete a fluid team effort.

Girona winger Savio doubled Brazil’s lead by grabbing a rebound in the penalty area, before Vinicius turned Omar Alderete’s cross into the net in first-half stoppage time to score his second goal of the evening.

Paraguay scored again after the break thanks to a brilliant long-range goal from Alderete, but all hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Brazil were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after a handball by Mathias Villasanti.

Despite his earlier miss, Paqueta did well and made no mistake as he called for a second time to delight the Brazilian fans at Allegiant Stadium.

Towards the end of the match, tempers flared and Andrés Cubas was sent off after hitting Douglas Luiz, but Brazil used the multiplayer mode to comfortably play out the match and secure the three points.

Brazil will face group leaders Colombia in California on Tuesday, where a draw would be enough to qualify for the quarter-finals. Costa Rica will face Paraguay in Texas.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Himani Sarkar)