Chile beat Uruguay to reach Copa America semifinals

Mauricio Isla struck late as Chile advanced to the semifinals of the Copa America with a 1-0 victory over nine-man Uruguay in a fractious quarterfinal here on Wednesday.

The Juventus full-back found the target nine minutes from time after Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani was dismissed following a second yellow card for an off-the-ball incident with Gonzalo Jara.

Uruguay were handicapped further when Jorge Fucile was also booked for a second time for a rash tackle on Alexis Sanchez.

The hosts will now confront the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between Bolivia and Peru for a place in the final.

Jorge Sampaoli's team are aiming to win the Copa America for the first time, despite the fact this will be their 20th appearance in the tournament's last four.

Uruguay will head home pondering what might have been had they been able to call upon their talisman Luis Suarez. The Barcelona striker missed the tournament due to a ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during last year's World Cup.

Cavani took his place in Uruguay's starting line-up despite Tuesday's arrest of his father for allegedly causing the death of a motorcyclist by crashing his car while drunk.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez will surely be ruing that decision now after the Paris Saint-German forward showed a blatant - and understandable - lack of focus.

Having struggled all tournament, Cavani looked particularly out of sorts on Wednesday. His most telling contribution was an ambitious 35-yard volley early in the second half that flew over the crossbar.

Chile dictated terms from the outset, boosted by the partisan support of a packed Estadio Nacional.

Jorge Valdivia continued his outstanding form this tournament as he provided the impetus of most of Chile's attacking moves.

The Palmeiras man set up Charles Aranguiz in the 26th minute before the Internacional midfielder's shot was blocked by Celeste goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

Uruguay's best chance of the first half was a Carlos Sanchez volley that flew just wide of the target.

Just as Uruguay were beginning to look more threatening in attack, they were dealt a major body blow when Cavani was given his marching orders in the 63rd minute.

Replays of the incident showed Jara may have exaggerated by clutching his face and falling to ground after what was seemingly a minor tap on his cheek.

Cavani was furious at the decision and had to be restrained by teammates before eventually leaving the pitch.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Uruguay didn't relent. Sanchez drew audible gasps of relief from the crowd when he rifled a 30-yard volley inches wide of Claudio Bravo's right post.

But their resistance was broken minutes later following Muslera's punched clearance.

The ball fell to Valdivia and the veteran playmaker laid the ball off for Isla to lash a low 20-yard shot into the bottom corner.

Fucile's sending off two minutes from time led to an all-in melee that included players and officials from both benches.

Chile controlled possession in the final minutes to close out the match and keep alive their hopes of winning a maiden continental trophy. Endi