William Chiroque gave the Peruvians the lead on 42 minutes, before Venezuela were reduced to ten men on the hour when Tomas Rincon picked up his second red card of the tournament.
Five minutes later, Paolo Guerrero doubled Peru’s lead. Juan Arango gave Venezuela hope with a goal on 78′, but two more goals from Guerrero in stoppage time ensured victory and made him the competition’s top goalscorer, with five in total.
The win sees Peru record their best Copa performance since they last won it in 1975. For Venezuela, their fourth place finish is easily their greatest achievement in the tournament, having only previously reached the quarter-finals once.
All that remains now of the 2011 Copa America is tonight’s final, as Uruguay and Paraguay battle it out to see who will lift the trophy. Kick-off is 20:00 UK time (16:00 local time).
