Enner Valencia scores game-winner for Ecuador to silence his haters

He needed this one. On Tuesday in Quito, Enner Valencia scored the game-winner for Ecuador in a close 1-0 win over Peru. It's the first time Ecuador has beaten Peru at home since 2011 and they needed their historic goal-scorer to get it done.

Valencia was coming off a rough showing vs. Brazil in last week's World Cup qualifier, which followed an embarrassing showing in the Copa America. Fans were calling for Valencia to retire from the team after he missed a penalty in the quarterfinals vs. Argentina. Now, he's been able to silence his haters after delivering in the squad's latest win:

Valencia is Ecuador's all-time leading goal scorer. While he's been quite inconsistent of late, leading to his captaincy being removed, this win over Peru should give him some confidence moving forward. It's great to see the striker smiling once again after coming up big for Ecuador, which is in fourth place of the CONMEBOL table.