Argentina hits back to win

Alejandro Sabella's side controlled possession during most of the first half, but could not find a way through the Cafeteros' defence.

It was the host which broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, midfielder Dorlan Pabon's free-kick taking a wicked deflection off Javier Mascherano.

The visitor was on level just after the hour mark, though, thanks to an error by Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina. The Nice stopper spilled Jose Sosa's cross, allowing Barcelona forward Messi to flick the ball into the empty net.

Argentina sealed an unconvincing win five minutes from time on the counter-attack. Messi fed Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, whose cross-shot was saved by Ospina but Manchester City frontman Aguero was on hand to tap home the rebound.

Man of the match Messi said: "It was hard. We did not deserve to go one goal behind to the opponents, as they were not better than us.

"We wanted to forget about the tie against Bolivia [a 1-1 draw]. That was very hard for us and I think we did.

"Sometimes you can play better, and other times you have to fight harder. This game was one of those days."

The victory moved Sabella's team on to seven points from four games - level at the top of the South American zone standings with Uruguay, which has a game in hand.

Higuain added: "We wanted to win. We were very low after the game on Friday and we promised to do better here.

"It was a great match, very difficult to play at a demanding venue, but we improved our performance in the second half and did it.

"Now, we have six months to try to find our best shape. The qualifiers are long and we made a good step today."

Venezuela moved level with Uruguay and Argentina at the top of the standings thanks to a 1-0 win over Bolivia in San Cristobal.

Argentina earlier triumphed in Colombia to go level on points with Uruguay, which was not in action, and Cesar Farias' Venezuela joined them on the seven-point mark after defender Oswaldo Vizcarrondo headed home a 25th-minute corner to give the Vinotinto its second win in four matches.

It was a third defeat in four games for Bolivia, which remained bottom of the standings and was unable to repeat the form it showed in a 1-1 draw against Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Both Chile and Ecuador moved within a point of the leading trio with victories.

Claudio Borghi's Chile claimed a 2-0 home win over Paraguay at the Estadio Nacional.

Pablo Contreras opened the scoring in the 28th minute by nodding home a right-wing cross from Matias Fernandez, and Matias Campos-Toro came off the bench to double the lead four minutes from time. His shot was deflected into the net by Paraguay midfielder Victor Ayala.

Borghi said: "I'm proud of what the players did. I feel they played for me, for the technical staff and it makes me feel proud."

Paraguay coach Francisco Arce, meanwhile, told reporters in Santiago: "Chile made the most of their goalscoring opportunities.

"We had some and we could have scored them, but their keeper had a great night."

In Quito, Ecuador overcame Peru 2-0. Cristian Benitez set up Edison Mendez to break the deadlock in the 69th minute, the ball going in via the left post.

Benitez lashed home a loose ball two minutes from time to make the points safe.

Ecuador boss Reinaldo Rueda said: "Peru played an excellent match and were aggressive. We could not relax.

"The players must now keep playing well at their clubs, finish this league in good form and start the new year even better."

Peru stayed on three points from three games and is second bottom in the standings.