Argentina's hopes of sealing qualification for next year's football World Cup were thwarted in a 1-1 draw with Ecuador, as Colombia took a massive stride towards the finals in Brazil with victory over Peru.
The Argentines, who once again left Lionel Messi on the bench, had to settle for a point at the Olympic Stadium in Quito.
Ugly scenes marred the closing stages, with Argentina captain Javier Mascherano sent off for kicking a medic who was stretchering him off the pitch in an incident that triggered a prolonged touchline melee.
Argentina could have qualified for Brazil with a victory.
The result left Argentina on top of the nine-team South American zone qualifiers with 26 points from 13 games, with three matches left to play.
Ecuador are third in the standings with 21 points after 12 games.
Second-placed Colombia edged towards their first World Cup finals appearance since the 1998 tournament with a clinical 2-0 win over Peru in their port stronghold of Barranquilla.
The top four teams automatically qualify for Brazil, with the fifth-placed team facing a playoff against their Asian counterpart.
