PERU 0 - 2 BRAZIL
Brazil beat Peru and have one foot at World Cup 2018 Russia
With goals from Man City's Gabriel Jesus and Renato Augusto, the samba boys claim their sixth victory in six games and stretch their lead at the top of the table.
The new Brazil of Tite strides forward and already has one foot in the World Cup in Russia 2018.
While Argentina have made hard work of qualification so far, Brazil appear to be coasting towards Russia. Only a miraculous sequence of results is likely to deny them an automatic qualifying place following Tuesday's 2-0 win over Peru in Lima.
Six games left, plenty to spare for samba boys
And it was the Manchester City-bound teenager Gabriel Jesus was the hero once more, scoring one goal and laying on another for Renato Augusto to give Brazil a sixth consecutive win under new coach Tite. The result left Brazil four points clear at the top of the standings with 27 points from 12 games. In qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, 28 points was enough to guarantee automatic qualification.
With six games left, Brazil should be safe with something to spare.
Uruguay lose touch with top spot
In Santiago meanwhile, Chile continued their recovery with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Uruguay.
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez was the hero, scoring twice for the Chileans in the second half after Eduardo Vargas had cancelled out Edinson Cavani's first-half opener for Uruguay. Sanchez and Chile had risked the wrath of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after playing despite injuring a hamstring during training last week.
Wenger had expressed fear Chile had made a "suicidal" decision by playing Sanchez after the injury. But the in-form striker showed no sign of ill-health with two well-taken goals to seal a crucial three points. Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo saved a late penalty from Luis Suarez as the two-time Copa America winners hung on for the win.
Ecuador staying strong
In other games Tuesday, Bolivia jolted Paraguay with a 1-0 win in La Paz while Venezuela slipped to the bottom of the standings after Ecuador coasted to a 3-0 victory in Quito.
Ecuador are now third in the standings, three points behind second-placed Uruguay.
