Brazil crowned Copa America winners in hard fought win over Peru

Brazil fought to a 3-1 win over Peru despite being reduced to 10 men, with Everton Soares, Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison getting the goals.

Brazil struggled to create any clear cut chances in the early minutes but took the lead on 15 when the impressive Gabriel Jesus got down the wing and sent a delicious cross to the back post where Everton Soares was waiting to slot the ball home.

Peru came with a game plan and that was to soak up pressure and hit Brazil on the counter, but their failure to keep possession in the attacking half meant the likes of Dani Alves and Alex Sandro were barely troubled, allowing them both to bomb forward and cause Peru problems.

But Thiago Silva gave away a penalty just before half time when the ball struck his arm. The PSG defender attempted to block a pull back but was unfortunate as the ball struck his trailing hand. The referee double checked the decision with VAR, but maintained his stance of a penalty and consequently an equaliser after Paolo Guerrero finished from the spot.

It took very little time for Brazil to regain the lead, Gabriel Jesus finding himself in acres of space in the box to slot low into the net deep into injury time, giving Brazil the lead as the half time whistle blew.

Gabriel Jesus then saw red as he picked up his second yellow card of the game, despite his clear frustrations with the decision.

Peru tried to use their numerical advantage to equalise and came close on several occasions but failed to truly test Liverpool stopper Alisson Becker. Brazil were then awarded a penalty of their own with minutes to go which Everton forward Richarlison calmly put away in the corner.

Brazil came away with their ninth Copa America after proving too strong for the rest of the competition since the start, even without the talismanic Neymar.