Velez Sarsfield thrashed this Tuesday by 4-0 the already classified Students from La Platawho played with juveniles, on the sixth and last day of Group C of the Libertadores Cup and qualified for the round of 16.
With this result, and Nacional’s victory against Bragantino by 3-0, Estudiantes finished the zone as leader with 13 points, followed by Vélez with eight, Nacional, who will play the South American, was third with seven and Bragantino fourth with five.
Lucas Janson scored a ‘double’ in the first half, Lucas Pratto scored the third in the second half and Abiel Osorio, who entered in the final minutes, converted the fourth towards the end of the game.
Vélez’s first goal came in the 22nd minute when Janson received a long pass that allowed him to face the goalkeeper alone and subtly define between his legs. At 44, Janson took advantage of a mistake made by the Estudiantes de La Plata defense to once again be alone before the goalkeeper. With another subtle definition, in this case to the left of the goalkeeper, the striker scored the second of the team and his personal account.
Pratto scored the third goal in the 73rd minute. The scorer overflowed to the left of the attack and from a very uncomfortable position, while everyone was waiting for the cross, he kicked on goal, surprising the goalkeeper and scoring the goal that ensured victory and classification for the local team.
With the game already settled, Osorio, who had entered shortly before, took advantage of a neglect in the defense of Estudiantes to make the final 4-0 in the 83rd minute. Estudiantes de La Plata suffered the expulsion, due to a double reprimand, of defender Bruno Valdez, 20, at 77 minutes.
This was the first loss for the Platenses in the current Copa Libertadores and the second victory for Vélez, who beat Nacional 2-3 last day and entered the fight for classification after a poor start to the tournament.
