Venezuela held out for a goalless draw away to Peru in Sunday's World Cup qualifier thanks to an inspired performance from goalkeeper Gilberto Angelucci.
Peru, hoping to capitalise on last Tuesday's 3-1 win away to Uruguay, dominated the match but repeatedly found Angelucci in their way.
The result kept Venezuela, who have 10 points from seven games, one point ahead of Peru in the South American qualifying group.
'Today, we tried everything to win the game but it didn't work out,' Peru coach Paulo Autuori told reporters.
'In the first half, we tried to use the speed of our forwards. In the second, we lost our way and used the long-ball approach, which made life easier for our opponents.
'Venezuela's not a surprise any more,' added the Brazilian.
Coach Richard Paez, who is attempting to take Venezuela to their first World Cup finals, said: 'The team has matured a lot. We are showing personality both at home and away.'
Peru, missing Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro through injury, produced several sweeping moves in the first half when a goal seemed only a matter of time.
Captain Nolberto Solano was centimetres away with a shot which deflected off Alejandro Cichero while Angelucci tipped over a long-range free kick from Martin Hidalgo.
Jefferson Farfan should have put Peru ahead when he was set up by Solano's clever layoff but fired his shot over from the edge of the area.
Angelucci's best save came in the first minute of the second half when he parried away Jorge Soto's powerful volley following a Roberto Palacios backheel.
He also did well to push Farfan's shot away in the 70th minute but by that time Peru had run out of ideas and were relying too heavily on crosses into the Venezuela area.
Venezuela threatened occasionally on the break. Midfielder Miguel Mea Vitali had their best effort with a low shot from the edge of the area which went narrowly wide with Oscar Ibanez beaten.
