Cerro Porteño scores at the end and defeats Curicó Unido-CHI in the first leg of the second phase of the pre-Libertadores

O Cerro Porteñofrom Paraguay, visited Curicó Unido, from Chile, to try the first step in the search for a vacancy in liberators. At Estadio Monumental David Arellano, the home team managed to score, but the goal was disallowed. In the final stretch, the visitors scored with Juan Patiño and won by 1-0 the first leg of the second phase of the pre-liberators.

The return match between the teams will be next Tuesday, at 7 pm (Brasília time), in Paraguay. Before that, Cerro Porteño faces Resistencia, on Friday, for the Paraguayan Championship, in which it assumes the vice-leadership, with eight points.

Curicó Unido returns to the field on Friday to face Universidad de Chile, for the sixth round of the Chilean Championship. For the competition, the team lost its last two clashes and occupies the tenth place, with six points.

¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

🎯 JUAN PATIÑO

🕒 45’ ST

Curicó United 0-1 Cerro Porteño

🏆 CONMEBOL #Liberators | Level 2#PlayTheMostPopular 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/kE6fbxLwmY

– Club Cerro Porteño (@CCP1912oficial) February 22, 2023

The hosts opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Augusto Barrios took advantage of a cross from the left and headed the first post, with no chance for the goalkeeper. However, VAR came into action to analyze a possible offside in the bid and, eight minutes later, the goal was disallowed.

There weren’t many dangerous moves in the second half. Cerro Porteño grew in the final minutes and managed to score. At 45 minutes, a corner kick from the right hit Juan Patiño’s head. After the detour, the ball touched the crossbar, dripped to the ground and went out of the goal, but had already crossed the line.

In the other match this Tuesday, Nacional de Asunción defeated Sporting Cristal, from Peru, by 2 to 0. In the confrontation disputed in Paraguay, the team led by the formerCorinthians Tiago Nunes conceded two goals in the second half, one of them in stoppage time, and goes into the return game with a disadvantage on the scoreboard. The teams face each other again next Tuesday at 21h.