Chile Vs. Ecuador Copa America 2015 Recap: Arturo Vidal's Penalty Leads La Roja To Victory 2-0 [VIDEO]

Chile's quest to win their first ever Copa America title got off to a great start on Thursday as the host nation scored two second half goals to defeat their Group A Rivals, Ecuador, 2-0 in Santiago.

It took over an hour, but Chile finally opened up the 2015 Copa America with a goal on their home soil when Arturo Vidal converted a penalty in the 67^th minute.

Vidal is fresh off the UEFA Champions League Final where he led Juventus throughout the greatest tournament in Europe before a disappointing loss to FC Barcelona in Berlin, saw them finish the year as runner up.

Ecuador's Miller Bolaños was called for the foul inside the box on Vidal. Bolaños brought down the Vidal with an arm across his chest as Vidal created all the contact and made sure he was the one to take penalty as the Chilean forward beat Alexander Dominguez to the top right corner on the shot.

Chile would add an insurance goal 17 minutes later when Alexis Sanchez found midfielder Eduardo Vargas wide open on the left side of the box and he creatively slipped his shot to the bottom right corner, just past the outstretched arm of Dominguez.

Matías Fernández came on in the 68^th minute for Jorge Valdivia, and quickly picked up two yellow cards and was ejected from the match in stoppage time. Chile would play the final few minutes with a man disadvantage, but by then the outcome was never in doubt.

Ecuador had numerous opportunities early in the match, but Jefferson Montero and Fidel Martinez couldn't find Enner Valencia in the right spots and squandered ample opportunities in the first 45 minutes.

Ecuador nearly got on the board first in the 53^rd minute when Ecuador exploded into the attacking third Valencia just missed his shot as it sailed past the net. Valencia nearly scored again with the score 1-0, in the 81^st minute, but his header bounced off the crossbar.

Chile dominated the second half, winning the battle of possession by nearly 2-to-1. Whatever half time adjustments were made, it worked as Chile was by far the aggressor on the pitch and easily secured the three points in Group A, to open the 2015 Copa America.

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