A late effort from Mauricio Isla was enough to send Chile into the semi-finals of the Copa America after knocking out reigning champions Uruguay, who were reduced to 10 men.
Uruguay dominated the early proceedings but Chile grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal both coming close in the first period.
The midfielder had another opportunity early in the second half before Edinson Cavani was sent off for a second bookable offence 63 minutes in.
Carlos Sanchez had a great chance before Isla gave Chile the lead with nine minutes left to play. Uruguay suffered another major set-back right before the death, when Jorge Fucile was given his marching orders - but the deadliest blow had already been dealt.
Chile were on the back foot from the off and could have been behind after two minutes if not for Gary Medel, Diego Rolan looked to have put Cavani through on goal but the former Cardiff City man was there to clear the danger with a sliding challenge.
Hosts on top for much of the first-half
From there, Chile managed to get a foothold in the game but didn’t get their first real chance of the game until 33 minutes in. The hosts played some good football on the edge of the area before a ball was whipped across the face of goal where Sanchez was waiting at the back post, but he couldn’t get his header on target.
Chile continued to pressure their opponents with Vidal, who has had an eventful tournament so far, finding some room in front of him but his effort could only sting the palms of keeper Fernando Muslera.
The Juventus midfielder had another excellent opportunity after the break when he tried a curling ambitious effort after the failed Chilean set piece which forced Muslera to claw the shot out of the air to keeper the scores level.
Óscar Tabárez's side reduced to 10 men
Uruguay were left with a mountain to climb in the 63rd minute when star striker Cavani was sent off. After been booked in the first period, the PSG forward slapped Gonzalo Jara in the face which left referee Sandro Meira Ricci with no choice but to show him a second yellow and end what had been a very disappointing tournament for the striker.
Despite being under a heap of pressure and a man down, Uruguay launched a rare attack in the 77th minute and came close to taking a shock lead. Winger Cristian Rodriguez managed to find his counterpart on the opposite wing in Sanchez, who hit an audacious first-time volley but it didn’t have quite enough swerve to go inside the post.
Despite that resurgence Uruguay were still feeling the pressure and almost went behind with 10 minutes to play when a dangerous corner from Jorge Valdivia flashed across the six-yard box but there was nobody in red to get the crucial touch on it.
Chile finally break the deadlock
Only a minute later they finally made the breakthrough, a cross from Eugenio Mena was punched by Muslera only as far as Valdivia - who laid it off to Isla, who drilled his effort into the bottom corner sending the Estadio Nacional into hysteria.
It went from bad to worse for Uruguay when they were reduced to nine men with two minutes to play. Fucile was handed a second yellow for a foul on Sanchez which sent La Celeste into hysterics, as they furiously surrounded the referee, but the decision stood making that equaliser that much more unlikely.
Ructions between the two sides carried on for some time and when play finally got back underway, Chile nearly wrapped it up seven minutes into injury time. Vidal was again allowed space on the edge of the box and managed to get his shot off but an excellent save from Muslera denied him his fourth goal of the tournament.
It was another excellent all-round performance from Chilean’s especially in front of such an enthusiastic crowd, they might be slightly disappointed that they take more advantage of the man advantage that they had but booking their place in the semi-finals is what matters most at this present moment.
It was a poor performance by the current holders, all the talk pre-tournament was how much of an effect the absence of Barcelona’s Luis Suarez would have on the side and it looks obvious quite a lot only scoring the two goals and the likes of Cavani failing to live up to the high expectations of themselves.