Uruguay striker Luis Suarez slammed Colombia for their "ugly" celebrations following Wednesday's Copa America semi-final, which saw players' families caught up in crowd violence.

Colombia advanced to their third Copa America final with a 1-0 victory in North Carolina, with Jefferson Lerma heading home the only goal in the first half.

However, the game was marred by ugly scenes as the families of some Uruguay players were caught up in violence involving Colombia supporters.

Colombia forward Miguel Borja also celebrated in front of Uruguay's players after the full-time whistle, prompting Suarez to lash out at Los Cafeteros' attitude. 

"There are always squabbles, jokes or whatever, but what is annoying is the way they celebrated," Suarez told reporters after the game.

"It makes no sense to celebrate like that. We eliminated Brazil the other day and none of us passed in front of any Brazil player. 

"It was the opposite. We went to them afterwards because we are colleagues on the pitch and we know what it is like to be knocked out.

"To celebrate in front of a professional colleague like that is ugly. But what goes around comes around." 

Some players – including Liverpool's Darwin Nunez and Atletico Madrid's Jose Gimenez – climbed into the stands after the game to reach their family members as punches were by fans in Colombia shirts.

Asked about the incident, Suarez said: "You see your partner, kids, parents, elderly people in the stands and you want to know how they are.

"Things had started to fall on them. No one wants to see those images, but obviously if you see that a family member is being attacked, you try and defend them. 

"It does not justify what happened, but you have to realise they were trying to protect their families and their children."

Nestor Lorenzo hailed Colombia's spirit after they survived Daniel Munoz's red card to beat Uruguay at the Copa America, saying overcoming Marcelo Bielsa made the victory more special.

Colombia will face Argentina in their third Copa America final (also 1975 and 2001) after Jefferson Lerma's first-half header downed Uruguay in Wednesday's semi-final.

Lorenzo's team clung on despite playing the second half with 10 men, with Munoz sent off for a second bookable offence on the stroke of half-time.

Bielsa blamed himself for Uruguay's defeat in his post-match press conference, but Lorenzo paid tribute to the former Leeds United boss when assessing Colombia's victory.

"I think that to beat Bielsa, you must walk many miles," Lorenzo told reporters.

"He is a referent coach and I really admire him as a person. It was our turn to win, that's all."

Uruguay had 73% of the possession after Colombia scored in the 39th minute, but Lorenzo's team managed seven shots to their opponents' six during that period.

Lorenzo opted against sacrificing an attacker after Munoz's sending-off, and he was delighted to see that decision pay off. 

"One of the main topics we discuss is that we never want to be one man down. It is impossible to maintain performance with 10 players on the pitch," Lorenzo added.

"Teams that were dominating their opponents when they were one man down were eliminated from the tournament. We really analysed that situation.

"With the formation, we only had options of 5-4, 5-3-1 or to keep it 4-3-2 and create opportunities. We chose that one and God favoured us. 

"Some of their opportunities didn't go in, but we also missed some and we made it.

"Daniel is feeling a bit sad. He's a lion on the pitch and once more he got a bit emotional. I hugged him and I told him that without him we wouldn't be where we are, so he has to hold his head up high."

Marcelo Bielsa believes he is to blame for Uruguay's Copa America exit, claiming Colombia's Nestor Lorenzo showed himself to be the superior coach in Wednesday's semi-final.

Having eliminated Brazil in the quarter-finals, Uruguay crashed out in the last four as Jefferson Lerma's header clinched a 1-0 win for Los Cafeteros in North Carolina.

Uruguay were unable to level despite playing the second half with a man advantage, after Lerma's Crystal Palace team-mate Daniel Munoz was sent off for two bookable offences.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Bielsa outlined his belief that Uruguay had more talent available and it was his failings that cost them.

"Uruguay was in a clear condition to win this match if you assess the individual talent in each squad," the former Leeds United boss said.

"I manage the team that, in my opinion, had the stronger individual talent and we weren't able to make the difference that I thought we were going to make.

"I am personally liable for not achieving the result, despite having players that were capable of being superior.

"We were not able to seize our extra man advantage, and when a team wins with less individual talent, logically, the manager that is coaching the weaker team shows that he is superior than the coach that had the best players."

Uruguay only managed 11 shots amounting to 0.76 expected goals (xG) to Colombia's 1.18 despite Munoz's red card, leaving Bielsa to lament the scrappy nature of the game.

"The first half, even if we didn't dominate possession, it was very even, and we should have made the difference," he added.

"With one man down in the second half for Colombia, the match was completely interrupted.

"It was constantly stop-start. We should have created more chances, but we tried every possible way, every possible path."

Ten-man Colombia held firm as they edged past Uruguay 1-0 to book their place in the Copa America final.

The in-form team looked up to their usual tricks as Jefferson Lerma scored the winner in the first half, but they had to work hard to keep their impressive unbeaten streak alive.

Daniel Munoz's sending off on the stroke of half-time put Colombia under pressure, but they thrived under it, nullifying Uruguay's late attempts to salvage a result in North Carolina.

Chasing just their second-ever Copa America title, Los Cafeteros will play defending champions Argentina in the final on Sunday.

The tournament's highest scorers started brightly, with Munoz thumping a powerful header just wide of Sergio Rochet's post for Colombia.

However, the tide soon turned, and Darwin Nunez arguably should have had a first-half hat-trick as he missed a flurry of golden chances.

Twice he fired wide of Camilo Vargas' right post, sending the goalkeeper scrambling with the first as it flew inches wide, before lifting a third just over the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Colombia soon showed their threat from set-pieces though, with Lerma rising high to nod in a corner from James Rodriguez, who got his record-breaking sixth assist of the tournament.

Munoz received his marching orders shortly after though, having received a first booking for a sliding tackle on Maximiliano Araujo, he then foolishly elbowed Manuel Ugarte in the chest, leaving the referee no choice but to send him off.

Luis Suarez was given 25 minutes to make an impact in the second half and was inches away from doing so -  unmarked on the edge of the box, he rattled the post after putting his laces through a powerful shot.

Moments later, Federico Valverde sneakily tried to beat Vargas with a low strike into the bottom-left corner, but could only drill it wide of the target.

Kevin Castano had two glorious chances to secure the victory for Colombia in the dying minutes; he fired wide with the first, but was unlucky with the second as a big save by Rochet sent his effort onto the crossbar.

Uruguay come up short in front of goal

Coming into this match, Uruguay had conceded just once at the Copa America, in their opening match against Panama.

Despite ending a run of three clean sheets, that was not their focus. Instead, they were let down by their lack of a clinical edge in the final third. 

At the end of the group stages, Uruguay were the high scorers, having netted nine goals on their way to topping Group C, but in the knockout rounds, they failed to hit the back of the net.

Nunez had all four of their first-half shots without hitting the target once, and La Celeste struggled to use their man advantage in the second as they managed just two tame shots on target by the full-time whistle.

James makes history

James has gone through something of a renaissance at this year's Copa America, proving to be the star man for Nestor Lorenzo.

His assist for Lerma's opener was his sixth of the tournament, the highest tally by a player at a single edition on record (since 2011), surpassing Lionel Messi's tally of five from 2021.

He did not see out the whole game on this occasion – after picking up a yellow card for dissent, the head coach smartly took him off to make sure he would be available for the final.

Lerma's header was the fifth such goal scored by Los Cafeteros, while also bringing their tally up to eight goals from set-pieces.

They showed a different side to their game as they dug deep to get the all-important win, extending their unbeaten streak to 28 games, with Argentina awaiting them in the final.

Substitute Justin Kluivert bagged a late winner as Bournemouth beat shot-shy Crystal Palace 1-0 to claim a third straight win and fourth in five matches.

The game was played in torrential rain and swirling winds, which made it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play.

Palace deployed former Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma as an emergency central defender to deputise for the injured Chris Richards and the Colombian made a desperate last-ditch tackle in the 10th minute to deny Philip Billing a clean run on goal after neat interplay between the Dane and Dominic Solanke.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta then found himself in the right place at the right time to nod the ball over his own crossbar after Dango Ouattara had flicked a corner towards the Palace net.

The visitors’ first sight of goal came five minutes later when Mateta shot straight into the arms of Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto after Will Hughes had dispossessed Alex Scott on the edge of his own penalty area.

Billing guided a left-foot shot narrowly wide after linking up with Ouattara before an off-balance Jordan Ayew could only pick out Neto’s gloves after being teed up by the lively Eberechi Eze.

It took until nine minutes before half-time for Eagles goalkeeper Dean Henderson to be properly tested as he flung himself down to his left to turn away Billing’s long-range free-kick.

A minute later Henderson made an even better save to acrobatically tip Billing’s powerful header from Adam Smith’s cross over the bar.

The resulting corner found Lloyd Kelly unmarked at the far post but the defender could only head wide from close range.

Palace thought they had taken the lead in first-half stoppage time when Eze fired home at the far post via a deflection but their celebrations were cut short after a VAR review deemed Mateta was just offside in the build-up to the goal.

Bournemouth, watched from the stand by American owner Bill Foley, brought on Antoine Semenyo for Scott at half-time before introducing Milos Kerkez and Kluivert early in the second half.

Within seconds of his arrival left-back Kerkez forced a sprawling save from Henderson before Solanke, who was largely starved of service, lashed the rebound into the side-netting from a tight angle.

Palace’s stubborn resistance was finally broken in the 79th minute when Semenyo got the better of David Ozoh down the right wing before cutting the ball back for fellow substitute Kluivert to rifle home from 12 yards.

Semenyo could have doubled Bournemouth’s lead moments later but his angled drive from the corner of the six-yard box was well saved by Henderson with his legs.

Chris Wood scored his seventh goal in eight league games as Nottingham Forest moved back out of the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.

In their first match since being docked four points by the Premier League for breaching profit and sustainability rules, Forest needed a 61st-minute equaliser from their in-form forward to cancel out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early strike for the visitors.

Having been plunged into the bottom three following the points deduction, Forest climbed to 17th place on goal difference after Luton fell to defeat at Tottenham.

Forest have this week launched an appeal against their punishment but there was little by way of a rousing response from the players until the second half and they still have only one win from their last 10 league matches.

Before kick-off fans in the Trent End unveiled a large banner which read ‘We shall fight and we shall overcome’ but the spirit in the stands was not matched by the performance on the pitch in the opening 45 minutes and Palace scored with their first real attack just 11 minutes in.

Jefferson Lerma intercepted a loose ball and then played a slide-rule pass to Eberechi Eze, who laid the ball off for Mateta to power in his third goal in his last four appearances, leaving Matz Sels with no chance as he found the top corner.

Three minutes later the lively Eze tried his luck with a free-kick from deep on the left, with Sels taking no chances as he tipped it over at the far post.

Forest had plenty of the ball but no final delivery as Palace, seeking a win which would edge them towards safety, were happy to drop deep, getting all 11 players behind the ball.

There was no service for the returning Wood as Forest failed to test their former goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who replaced the injured Sam Johnstone for Palace.

Seven minutes before half-time Oliver Glasner’s side should have doubled their lead when Adam Wharton’s threaded pass from deep sent Eze through on goal but Sels was out quickly to smother the shot.

Nuno Espirito Santo sent on Anthony Elanga for Ibrahim Sangare at the break but again it was Palace who were quick to threaten, with Eze bending an effort wide after being played in by Wharton following a short corner.

When Callum Hudson-Odoi cut in from the left in the 52nd minute his shot was easy enough for Henderson to punch clear but Forest were starting to find some encouragement and drew level just after the hour.

Morgan Gibbs-White floated a ball in from the left and Wood, with his back to goal, did well to twist and flick a header over Henderson and into the far corner of the net.

Having sat deep for so long Palace tried to up the intensity and Wharton shot wastefully over before Eze brought a good save out of Sels after beating several defenders in a run across the box.

The game went from end to end and in the 74th minute Hudson-Odoi picked out substitute Gio Reyna, who made space for himself before hitting a powerful shot that Henderson parried and Gibbs-White then sent a shot over the bar.

Palace were inches away from a late winner when Neco Williams turned Eze’s corner against his own post in the 87th minute but a draw felt like a fair result in the end.

Substitute Cauley Woodrow snatched an equaliser in the final seconds of added time as Luton drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace to hand the Hatters a crucial point in their relegation battle.

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early opener at Selhurst Park looked to be the winner until Woodrow headed home, extending the Eagles’ Premier League-leading tally of late goals conceded in the process.

Sunny Singh Gill made history as the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League match, and was spotted signing autographs as he waited in the tunnel ahead of the second half.

The result draws Luton within three points of safety, while Palace will be ruing a huge missed opportunity to put more breathing room between themselves and the drop zone.

Singh Gill’s decision-making was tested early, when Palace protested for what they felt was a Teden Mengi handball, but the ex-prison officer – who comes from a refereeing family – waved play on.

Luton’s brightest spell of the opening period came when the Hatters won an early corner and Palace were only able to half-clear, the ball pinging around the 18-yard box where Luton came closest through a nodded effort from Ross Barkley, who needed treatment for a nose bleed after colliding with Joel Ward.

Mateta rolled an effort at Thomas Kaminski during the hosts’ first real break into Luton’s final third, not long before the Eagles took an 11th-minute lead through the Frenchman.

Mateta’s fifth league goal of the campaign followed some good work from January signing Daniel Munoz, who was able to latch on to Alfie Doughty’s loose back pass and find his team-mate just inside the six-yard box, where he opened the scoring with a backwards flick.

The Hatters had a handful of chances to reply, but it was the Eagles who applied more pressure as Ward, Jefferson Lerma and Mateta all misdirected efforts.

Singh Gill issued his first Premier League booking to Issa Kabore, who took down Lerma with a reckless challenge in the 27th minute, and showed his second yellow to Eberechi Eze for a pull on Reece Burke’s shirt.

Palace, who managed to keep the in-form Carlton Morris quiet throughout the first half, had a chance to double their lead before the break when another back pass – this time from Reece Burke – allowed Mateta to pounce and round Kaminski, but he found himself at too tight an angle and fired into the side-netting.

Eze threatened twice before the hour mark, while Luton’s best early chance after the break came via Chiedozie Ogbene, who directed a header wide of Sam Johnstone’s left post from six yards out.

Morris finally had a crack, directing a sharp volley straight at Johnstone before Daiki Hashioka sent his effort over the bar.

It was nevertheless an encouraging spell for the Hatters, who entered the afternoon having scored more goals in the final 15 minutes than every Premier League side bar Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal – while the Eagles had conceded the most in that same period.

Yet it was the Eagles who had the first big chance in the final 10 minutes of normal time through an audacious effort from Eze, who launched the ball from inside the centre circle that the scrambling Kaminski could not have stopped, but to his relief skimmed just over the crossbar.

The majority of the chances in six minutes of added time went the hosts’ way – including a crossbar-clipping effort from Odsonne Edouard – but it was Woodrow who made his count when he guided in ex-Eagle Andros Townsend’s delivery to stun Selhurst Park.

Roy Hodgson struggled to find positives after Chelsea scored twice in stoppage-time to inflict a 3-1 home loss on his Crystal Palace team.

Conor Gallagher, who spent the 2021-22 season on loan with the Eagles, struck twice to complete the comeback, becoming the first Chelsea player to score a 90th-minute winner in the Premier League since he did precisely the same at Selhurst Park in October 2022.

Beleaguered boss Hodgson, whose side are once again mired in an injury crisis and remain just five points clear of the relegation zone, initially found it difficult to discuss the brighter elements of Monday’s contest.

Hodgson said: “I’m not really in the mood if I’m being brutally honest of (highlighting) positives and trying to find things to say that would cheer me up, because I don’t know what could be said that would cheer me up.

“What can I say that will cheer the players up? I could possibly say, well, with the players we’ve got coming back and these guys doing so well, it bodes well for the future with the 14 games we have left.

“But of course we still don’t know when (Michael) Olise, (Eberechi) Eze will be back, so we might be battling through like we’ve done tonight for a few more games before we can look at a team which will threaten the opposition a bit more than we did today.”

As has been par for the Palace course in recent weeks, before kick-off fans raised banners protesting about the direction of their club, with one reading “supporters ignored and taken for granted”.

A lacklustre start from Mauricio Pochettino’s men allowed the hosts to take the lead after 30 minutes through Jefferson Lerma’s screamer, but it was cancelled out less than two minutes after the break by Gallagher, his first of the campaign.

Hodgson did not feel a lengthy delay to sort out a technical issue with the referee’s equipment had an impact on the equaliser, pointing out it had equally affected both sides.

Just as it seemed Hodgson’s side – who rank below only Sheffield United in goals conceded in the last 15 minutes of the second half of Premier League matches – seemed like they would walk away with a point, Gallagher swept Chelsea into the top half of the table.

Hodgson felt his side might have had a chance to level things until, three minutes later, Enzo Fernandez ended any doubt about the outcome.

Pochettino, meanwhile, was pleased to secure all three points ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Manchester City and the Carabao Cup final later this month, but felt there was plenty of room to improve.

He said:  “I think (Gallagher) is a player that shows great commitment to the team, always tries to compensate in every situation, in offensive and defensive situations.

“It is priceless to have a player like him. I’m so happy for him and so happy for the team, it’s a victory, we needed the three points.

“I think if you ask me if I am really happy about the performance, I’m 50/50, because we cannot approach the game and start the game the way that we started.

“That is the consistency we need to build. We need to be more consistent, we need to start the game in a different way.

“But I’m very pleased in the end because we have the three points, and now we have to prepare for Manchester City, that is going to be a good test for us, before the final. I think we are going to prepare in a very good way.”

Chelsea finished strongly to win 3-1 at Crystal Palace, with Conor Gallagher punishing his former side at Selhurst Park.

The depleted hosts, who had lost the influential Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi to injury, took the lead via a Jefferson Lerma screamer – his maiden Eagles goal.

Gallagher equalised almost immediately after a delayed start to the second half, firing home his first of the Premier League season in the 47th minute.

Just as it seemed the relegation-threatened hosts were close to securing a valuable point, Gallagher struck in his second on the stroke of normal time, moments before Enzo Fernandez ensured Chelsea would end the evening in the top half of the table.

It was difficult to predict what kind of reception Palace would receive after the 4-1 loss at rivals Brighton, after which some players and fans in the away end exchanged heated words, and the frequent appearance of protest banners in recent weeks.

And though several were raised ahead of kick-off – “supporters ignored and taken for granted”  among them – the overall mood was perhaps less sour than boss Roy Hodgson, who had pleaded with supporters to back his diminished side, might have expected.

His players responded with an encouraging start, despite the visitors enjoying the lion’s share of possession, pouncing on loose balls with promising drives into Chelsea’s final third.

Palace took the lead at the half-hour mark, shortly after Jean-Philippe Mateta had missed a chance to fire the hosts ahead,  when Lerma managed to liberate himself from a quartet of tumbling and battling bodies and patiently took a few paces forward before blasting the ball high into the net from 25 yards out.

Former Eagles loanee Gallagher, who scored the winner in the October 2022 edition of this fixture, fired wide of Dean Henderson’s left post before the break, by which the Blues had completed 420 passes but not registered a shot on target.

The second period got off to a delayed start after referee Michael Oliver experienced technical issues, the stadium singing and laughing along as Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds (Everything’s Gonna Be Alright)’ was pointedly played in the pause.

It proved to be an ironic choice when Gallagher side-footed Malo Gusto’s delivery past Henderson in the 47th minute and the away end immediately began taunting the home support with their own version of the famous reggae refrain, including an emphatic “Chelsea”.

Although a livelier and more disciplined Blues side had emerged for the second half, the hosts were not without their chances. Thiago Silva slid to deny Mateta and Daniel Munoz, in his first home start, tested goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from a tight angle.

Ben Chilwell cringed after blasting a good chance over the crossbar, close enough to lure Henderson into a leap as Chelsea continued to apply pressure.

With just under 15 minutes remaining in normal time, Matheus Franca forced Petrovic into a good diving save, before Cole Palmer was denied by Henderson soon after.

Palace survived another Chelsea set piece and, with less than 10 minutes to go, were able to crowd substitute Raheem Sterling, nearly set up for a dangerous chance from Palmer’s cross.

Both sides pushed for more and, just as it seemed like Palace had clung on for a vital point, Palmer picked out Gallagher who, in a deja-vu moment for the home support, swept Chelsea into a 90th-minute lead.

Any hope of a late Eagles reply was dashed in added time when Fernandez took his time before firing into the top left corner. Palmer again provided the assist.