Brazil cruised into the quarter-finals of the Copa America with a thumping 5-0 victory over Peru at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo.
The tournament hosts were booed off by their fans after being held to a goalless draw by Venezuela in midweek but they took their frustrations out on previously unbeaten Peru.
The clash between the top two in Group A was as good as over inside the opening 32 minutes with Brazil storming into a 3-0 lead.
Casemiro opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he headed in from close range following a Philippe Coutinho corner and Roberto Firmino made it 2-0 soon after.
The Liverpool forward blocked Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese’s attempted clearance and, after the ball had rebounded back off the post, Firmino collected possession, side-stepped Gallese and tapped in.
Brazil added a third before the break when Everton beat Gallese at his near post with a low drive from outside the box, and the Selecao – looking to win the Copa America for the first time since 2007 – were well on their way to the last eight as group winners.
The scoring did not finish there, though, with Brazil captain Dani Alves emphatically finishing off a one-two with Firmino at the start of the second half, before Chelsea forward Willian made it 5-0 with a brilliant 20-yard effort in the 90th minute.
There was still time after that for Brazil to add a sixth but Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus saw his stoppage-time penalty well saved by Gallese diving to his right.
In the day’s other group match, Venezuela beat Bolivia 3-1 to move above Peru into second place and progress to the knockout stages.
Darwin Machis struck twice for Venezuela before Josef Martinez wrapped up the win after Leonel Justiniano had pulled a goal back for Bolivia.
