The America Mineiro directed by Marquinhos Santos advanced in an epic way to the third phase of the Libertadores Cup by coming back from 2-0 and beating 2-3 at Guarani in regulation time to force a penalty shootout in which he finally won 4-5 this Wednesday in Asunción.
The Guaraní of the Spanish Fernando Jubero won 2-0 at the Defensores del Chaco stadium, but the América Mineiro surprised him by achieving a 2-3 with a ‘double’ by Wellington Paulista and an own goal by the Colombian goalkeeper Devis Vásquez shortly after. end.
That 2-3 in favor of América Mineiro led to the definition of a penalty shootout, since Guaraní won 0-1 in the first leg. Two goals in two minutes at the Defensores del Chaco stadium seemed to be enough for Jubero’s team tonight to ensure passage to the next round of the continental tournament.
At the start of the match, Guaraní was shown to be absolutely dominant and that was quickly reflected on the scoreboard. At 13 minutes, captain Fernando Fernández scored the 1-0 penalty and two minutes later, at 15, defender Marcos Cáceres beat Jailson’s goal and extended the account.
In extra time, the visiting team, which was debuting in the championship, came out with more momentum and thanks to that, they got a discount on Wellington Paulista’s boots in the 59th minute. Paulista repeated and converted the second goal of the night for his personal account and for his team in the 74th minute, after an assist from Everaldo.
The 2-2 gave a much greater boost to América Mineiro, who went all out on the attack. And in the 92nd minute the Brazilian club achieved the unthinkable. An action caused by Lucas Kal ended in an own goal by Colombian goalkeeper Devis Vásquez, who misfortune led to score the 2-3 in favor of the rival.
In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Vásquez missed his shot, the fifth, which would have given Guaraní the win 5-4 since Henrique Almeida, from América, had previously missed his.
Then the nerves took over the collectors of both groups. Rodi Ferreira and Roberto Fernández failed for the local team and Patric failed for the visit. But the midfielder Everaldo arrived and was in charge of converting the fifth penalty of his team that in 109 years of history disputes its first Libertadores and has already left its mark.
América Mineiro’s rival in the third phase will be the winner of the series between Ecuadorian Barcelona and Peruvian Universitario.
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