Argentina delivered a much improved performance to beat Venezuela 2-0 in the Copa América quarter-finals and set up a mouth-watering meeting with Brazil.

Lautaro Martínez scored for the second game running to put Argentina in front in the 10th minute with a clever back-heeled finish, diverting in a shot from Sergio Agüero following a corner swung in by the captain, Lionel Messi.

Lionel Scaloni’s side had to weather a series of attacks from Venezuela in the second half and it took a strong save from Franco Armani to prevent Ronald Hernández from equalising.

Gabriel Jesus sends Brazil into semi-finals with winning penalty against Paraguay Read more

The substitute Giovani Lo Celso then scored Argentina’s badly needed second goal in the 74th minute, passing a loose ball into the net after another shot from Agüero squirmed through the hands of Venezuela’s goalkeeper, Wuilker Faríñez.

Lo Celso’s tap-in sealed a therapeutic win for Argentina in their first game back at the Maracanã since their 1-0 defeat by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, which began a cycle of three consecutive losses in major finals. They had scraped into the last eight with a nervy 2-0 win over Qatar in their final group-stage game after losing to Colombia and drawing with Paraguay, but they expected a sterner test from Venezuela.

Venezuela once lost 11-0 to Argentina in the 1975 Copa América but they have made remarkable advances in recent years despite a backdrop of political turmoil, reaching the 2017 Under-20 World Cup final under their current coach, Rafael Dudamel. But they failed to live up to the hype and barely got into Argentina’s area before half-time.

The victors’ reward is a first Copa América clash with Brazil since the 2007 final, which they lost 3-0. The tournament hosts beat Paraguay in a penalty shootout following a goalless draw on Thursday.

Reigning champions Chile also advanced to the semi-finals, beating Colombia 5-4 in a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw at the Corinthians Arena.

Alexis Sánchez converted the winning kick for Chile after William Tesillo missed Colombia’s last attempt.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chile celebrate after their shootout win. Photograph: André Penner/AP

Chile, who won both the 2015 and 2016 Copa América finals on penalties, had two goals chalked off after VAR reviews. They will face either Uruguay or Peru in in Porto Alegre on Wednesday.