Brazil vs Uruguay. International Match.
Emirates Stadium.
Friday 16 November 2018 23:59, UK
Neymar scored a second-half penalty as Brazil edged past Uruguay 1-0 in an ill-tempered friendly at the Emirates Stadium.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar converted from 12 yards on 76 minutes, after Diego Laxalt's foul on Danilo, to give Brazil victory in their first meeting with Uruguay outside of the Americas in over 100 years.
Referee Craig Pawson had his work cut-out throughout the friendly that was anything but, with Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Lucas Torreira among eight players to receive a booking.
The result means Brazil are unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Uruguay, who haven't defeated the five-time world champions since 2001.
Brazil were without Philippe Coutinho, Marcelo and Casemiro for the friendly in north London, but star attraction Neymar was on display, with his every touch cheered by the exuberant crowd.
After drawing Uruguay goalkeeper Martin Campana into action with a skimming free-kick, Neymar was denied the opening goal on 11 minutes as he was ruled offside when converting from a Filipe Luis cross.
Neymar whistled a fierce drive over three minutes later as Brazil dominated the opening exchanges, but Uruguay steadily grew into the contest as a curling effort from Suarez forced Alisson to tip an effort over.
After a flurry of yellow cards were dished out in a petulant end to the first half, Cavani spurned a glorious chance to give Uruguay the head, firing a shot into the ground which Alisson tipped over after a brilliant cross from Suarez.
Uruguay started the second have strongly but Brazil soon took control again. With chances at a premium, though, they needed a penalty to secure the win as Danilo nipped ahead of Laxalt as he attempted to clear the ball, and was on the receiving end of a rash challenge.
Suarez was booked of his protests but they fell on deaf ears as Neymar coolly stepped up and sent Campana the wrong way to maintain Brazil's dominance over Uruguay.
Who else? The PSG forward has the ability to spark a game into life in a split second - and he so nearly managed to do just that on a number of occasions. It wasn't the greatest spectacle the Emirates has played host to - games rarely are when this dogged Uruguay outfit are involved - but Neymar ensured those in attendance got a glimpse of quality for their money.
Brazil head coach Tite: "It was a South American derby. We've got respect for Uruguay. Regardless of it being a friendly, they have, they are, a good team with a high level. We were able to keep consistency even with so many changes within the team."
Uruguay head coach Oscar Tabarez: "I am pleased with how the young players did rather than focusing on the difficulties we've had, which have been significant. We knew that we were up against a very strong team. It's not easy to play when you don't have a lot of prior international experience but with talented players, they seem like they're older than they really are."
Brazil take on Cameroon at Stadium:mk on Tuesday (7.30pm GMT), while Uruguay head to Paris for a reunion with World Cup quarter-final conquerors France on the same day (8pm GMT).
