Uruguayan minnows River Plate progressed to the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana after defeating Argentine giants San Lorenzo 7:6 on penalty kicks after levelling the series with a 1-0 win in Buenos Aires.
Juan Ramon Carrasco´s side knew that they had to claim a victory at the Nuevo Gasometro to stand a chance, and they played some very effective football to the frustration of the Argentines.
After a goalless first half, Australian-born striker Richard Porta put River ahead with a brilliant individual goal.
Porta pushed the ball past a defender, latched onto it with speed, and then fired it past a hapless Pablo Migliore in the San Lorenzo goal.
San Lorenzo were shell shocked with the goal, and Diego Simeone´s side pushed forward in large numbers searching for an equaliser.
They came close to scoring through Pablo Pintos and Bernardo Romeo, but both attempts were saved by River goalkeeper Luciano Dos Santos.
River almost put the result out of San Lorenzo´s reach in the final minutes, but Porta took too long to get himself into a scoring position when presented with space inside of the area.
In the proceeding penalty shootout, 18 spot kicks were taken with River converting 7 and San Lorenzo converting 6. Pablo Pintos, the Uruguayan defender who scored San Lorenzo´s winner in the first leg, missed the final penalty kick.
River Plate will meet the winner of the tie between Velez Sarsfield and Liga de Quito in the semi-finals.
Cerro Porteno of Paraguay also reached the semi-finals after beating Botafogo of Brazil 3-1 in Rio de Janeiro for a big 5-2 aggregate victory.
Gregory Sica
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i could not believe my eyes…i cried for the first time in my life. arriba arriba san lorenzo…te amo
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Haha, what a Joke SL is!!! Riverplate is one of the worst teams in America!! That Carrasco is a really underrated and unpredictable coach.
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I cant believe this team river made the semi finals….they will definitely lose to liga.
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