With the chance of finishing second in the CONMEBOL WCQ table, Ecuador started brightly against the reigning world champions, who were already guaranteed to finish top.
Emiliano Martinez was called into action on more than one occasion early on, racing off his line to block an Enner Valencia effort before getting down low to thwart Nilson Angulo minutes later.
La Albiceleste eventually established a foothold in the contest, but with half an hour played, the tide turned as Nicolás Otamendi was dismissed for bringing down Valencia when bearing down on goal.
Having kept 11 clean sheets in WCQ so far, it looked as if Argentina would survive until HT, but a Nicolas Tagliafico foul gave captain Valencia the chance to convert from the spot, and he made no mistake to net Ecuador’s first goal in five games 13 minutes into first-half stoppage time.
It didn’t take long for the complexion of the match to drastically change once more, as within five minutes of the restart, La Tri’s numerical advantage was gone when Moises Caicedo was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge.
Sebastian Beccacece turned to his bench with an hour played, taking off Valencia in what may well be his final home game for Ecuador. Further substitutions for both sides soon followed, and one of those introduced, Giovani Lo Celso, came close to levelling the scores, only to be denied by a crucial block from Willian Pacho.
At the other end, Kevin Rodriguez should have doubled Ecuador’s lead when through on goal, but yet again, Martínez made another smart stop. An open ending could have gone either way, but in the end, it was La Tri who prevailed in a game that is ultimately of little consequence.
Ecuador can now look forward to a fifth FIFA World Cup appearance, where they’ll be joined by the defending champions, who suffered their first H2H loss in nine meetings (W7, D1).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Piero Hincapie (Ecuador)