Estudiantes (1) 1 – 0 (2) Arsenal
Arsenal secured their place in the Copa Sudamericana round of 16 last night with a 1-0 defeat in La Plata enough to eliminate compatriots Estudiantes.
Matias Sanchez grabbed the only goal of the game shortly after the hour mark, controlling Juan Veron’s wayward strike on goal before sending his shot past Cristian Campestrini in the Arsenal goal.
Having gone down 2-0 in Sarandi a little over a week ago, Estu needed a second and were unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty with ten minutes to go when Mauro Boselli was seemingly tripped by Campestrini.
“It is criminal, there is a hesitation between the defender and goalkeeper and I got there [first],” vented an angry Boselli at full-time. “It was a move that changed everything.”
There was some consolation for Estudiantes, who managed their first win in ten games and their first under new coach Miguel Angel Russo.
“We changed our attitude on the pitch this evening and won,” said defender Leandro Desabato, “but it was not enough.”
“We gave it our all,” added Russo, “we're going to move forward… we are now focused on [our next league game against] Tigre.
The result means Arsenal move on to the round of 16 where they will face either Emelec of Ecuador or Paraguayan club Olimpia.
“We showed we have a squad of player who will give everything for this shirt,” said a proud Campestrini. “It was a close finish,” added defender Guillermo Burdisso. “but the important thing is that we survived to qualify.”
Godoy Cruz (2) 0 – 0 (2) Lanus
A Goalless draw at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza proved enough to see Godoy past Lanus last night, with Jorge da Silva’s side progressing on away goals thanks to last week’s 2-2 draw in the capital.
Mariano Pavone came closes to breaking the deadlock, stretching to smash his follow-up off the bar after Godoy goalkeeper Sebastian Torrico had reacted well to save his initial effort.
Torrico was to have a bust evening, twice making smart stops from Mario Regueiro.
“The first leg was vital and the two goals we got proved very useful,” said man of the match Torrico. “Tonight, we played more with out heads than the ball. Lanus maybe deserved a result today, but in the 180 minutes we deserved to qualify.”
“We were the only team trying to win the match,” said a frustrated Pavone at full-time. “We lacked the vital goal… But the good thing is that we generated lost of chances.”
Godoy now await the winners of Universitario of Peru and Venezuela’s Deportivo Anzoátegui.
