Red-hot Suarez cools Colombia

Luis Suarez struck his third goal in six matches as Uruguay held Colombia to a 2-2 draw in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

Abel Aguilar gave Colombia the lead in the 15th minute when he headed in Luis Muriel's cross before Christian Rodriguez also headed in from a set piece for the visitors.

Suarez then put Uruguay in front by beating his marker and firing in from a difficult angle. But Yerry Mina salvaged a point for the host when he nodded in a Juan Cuadrado cross at the far post.

"We feel that we could have won the match but we're not too disappointed to come away with a draw here," Suarez told ESPN after the match.

The Barcelona forward has now scored three goals and provided five assists in six matches during the current qualifying campaign.

Tuesday's result at Estadio Metropolitano - played in stifling heat and at times torrential rain - lifted Uruguay to 20 points from 10 matches, three points ahead of Colombia, in the South American standings.

The top four teams at the end of the two-year qualifying campaign will earn automatic berths at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The fifth-ranked side will meet the Oceania champion in an inter-continental playoff.

Meanwhile, Everton forward Enner Valencia scored twice as 10-man Ecuador recovered from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw with Bolivia in La Paz.

Pablo Escobar struck both goals for the host as it dominated the first half at Estadio Hernando Siles, more than 3,600 meters above sea level.

Despite Valencia's goal early in the second half, the game looked over when Ecuador's Luis Caicedo was shown a second yellow card for a bad foul in the 79th minute.

But Valencia sent the home crowd into stunned silence by firing in an 89th minute equalizer.

Valencia's goals capped a dramatic week of duty with the international team for the starry forward.

Last week, the 26-year-old was at the center of a bizarre incident during his team's win over Chile in Quito when he was accused of feigning injury to avoid police officers waiting on the sidelines to arrest him in connection with an alimony dispute.

Xinhua / Agencies