Ten-man Colombia edge Uruguay 1-0 to book Copa America final against Argentina

Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 in their Copa America semi-final on Thursday (Jul 11) despite being reduced to 10 men for 45 minutes to book a title decider against defending champions Argentina thanks to a first-half header from Jefferson Lerma.

Uruguay's Darwin Nunez missed several chances in the first half and Colombia made them pay when Lerma rose above the defence on a corner in the 39th minute and squeezed his header past goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.

Colombia went down to 10 men just before halftime when Daniel Munoz lost his cool and got himself sent off, with the right back receiving a second yellow card for elbowing Manuel Ugarte in the chest when play was stopped.

Uruguay dominated possession in the second half and veteran striker Luis Suarez nearly equalised when he hit the post but Colombia bravely held on for a famous win and will play Argentina in Sunday's final.

Uruguay will play Canada a day earlier in the third-place playoff.

After the match ended, scuffles brokes out in the stands between fans of the rival teams.

The overwhelming majority of the spectators in the crowd were supporting Colombia but there was no segregation between them and their Uruguayan counterparts and the violence erupted at the final whistle.

While punches were thrown several Uruguay players climbed into the crowd, seemingly to protect them, with Nunez prominent among them.

The fighting continued for several minutes until police finally intervened.

A group of around 80-100 Uruguayan fans remained in the stadium, on the field, long after the rest of the fans had left.

Ugly scenes also broke out on the field after the final whistle, with players and staff from both teams involved in a mass melee in the centre-circle following Colombia's victory.