Posted on: 04:46 Mon, 19 Jun 2017
CHILE kicked off their Confederations Cup campaign with a 2-0 triumph over Cameroon in a match marred by VAR controversy in Moscow.

Alexis Sanchez came off the bench to inspire his side to victory as Arturo Vidal the breakthrough with eight minutes remaining before Eduardo Vargas notched a second in the dying stages.



Vargas felt both to pros and cons of the Video Assistant Referee during the clash.

The 27-year-old felt he had been unfairly denied a goal late in the first half.

He was already off celebrating before he was then deemed to have been in an offside position after the referee had referred the decision to VAR – although replays still left confusion as to whether he was.

But he did feel the benefit of the new technology on offer to the match officials in the 91st minute of the clash after some good work from Sanchez.

The Arsenal forward darted clear while Vargas was stood in an offside position. Sanchez’s effort was eventually blocked yards from the line, but the ex-QPR man fired home the rebound.

Ref Damir Skomina had initially disallowed his effort for offside again, but this this he eventually awarded the goal after conferring with his assistants.

And that strike came after Bayern Munich man Vidal had rose highest to meet Sanchez’s cross with a strong header with just under ten minutes remaining.

Juan Antonio Pizzi had started with Manchester City target Sanchez on the bench after he was deemed not to have fully recovered from an ankle injury.

But his arrival proved to be the key moment in the encounter against the Africans as he inspired his nation to victory.