Douglas Costa inspires Brazil to 3-0 rout of Peru

Douglas Costa scored one goal and had a hand in two others as Brazil defeated Peru 3-0 in their 2018 football World Cup qualifier here.

The Bayern Munich winger on Tuesday opened the scoring from a close range at the Fonte Nova arena after Willian's jinking run and cross from the byline, reports Xinhua.

Renato Augusto then had Costa to thank for his first international goal just before the hour mark.

Costa beat a posse of defenders before laying off a pass for the Corinthians midfielder, who placed his first-time shot from the edge of the box to perfection.

Brazil added a third goal when Costa's powerful drive was punched clear by Peru goalkeeper Diego Penny, only for Filipe Luis to fire in the rebound.

The victory lifts Dunga's team to third in the South American zone qualifiers with seven points from four matches. Peru are ninth in the 10-team standings with three points.

Meanwhile Argentina notched their first win of the campaign by overcoming Colombia 1-0 in Barranquilla. Lazio midfielder Lucas Biglia struck the winner for the visitors in the first half after an Ezequiel Lavezzi cross.

In Puerto Ordaz, Ecuador made it four wins from four matches by beating Venezuela 3-1. Fidel Martinez and Jefferson Montero netted first half goals before Felipe Caidedo added another on the hour mark. Josef Martinez pulled a goal back for the hosts six minutes from time.

Ecuador top the standings with 12 points while Venezuela are last and are the only team without a point.

In Montevideo, Diego Godin, Alvaro Pereira and Martin Caceres were all on target as Uruguay routed Chile 3-0. The result moved Uruguay to second with nine points while Chile dropped to fifth, two points further back.

And in Asuncion, Dario Lezcano and Lucas Barrios struck within three second-half minutes as Paraguay defeated Bolivia 2-1. Yasmani Duk had given Bolivia the lead on the hour mark, just three minutes before Lezcano's equalizer.