Flamengo edge first leg against Corinthians
Reuters - Thursday 29 April 2010, 04:27
BUENOS AIRES - Ten-man Flamengo beat
Corinthians 1-0 with an Adriano penalty on a mixed night for
Brazilian teams in first-leg action in the Libertadores Cup
last 16 on Wednesday.
Internacional lost 3-1 away to Argentina's Banfield and Sao
Paulo drew 0-0 with Peruvian champions Universitario in Lima.
Both Brazilian teams had players sent off.
A crowd of 72,000 gathered at the Maracana to watch the
clash between Brazil's two most popular teams after contrasting
results in the group phase.
Corinthians, previously unbeaten, had the best record and
Flamengo the worst among the qualifiers for the first knockout
round.
Flamengo, who won the trophy in 1981, were a man short from
the 37th minute when midfielder Michael was sent off for his
second booking after two bad tackles in the space of seven
minutes.
A first half in pouring rain gave way to a better second
and Brazil's Adriano converted a 64th minute penalty, his first
goal for a month, after left back Juan was brought down by
Moacir.
It was Flamengo's first match since sacking coach Andrade,
who had steered them to the Brazilian title last year, after a
poor group performance.
"In our circumstances, I think the victory was excellent.
Congratulations to the players who honoured this shirt in a
marvellous way," said caretaker coach Rogerio Lourenco,
Andrade's former assistant.
TWO-GOAL LEAD
In Buenos Aires, Colombian forward James Rodriguez scored
his fifth goal of the competition to put Banfield ahead less
than two minutes into the second half. He ghosted in unmarked
on the left to shoot from a tight angle past Inter's Argentine
keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Inter hit back three minutes later when defender Kleber
volleyed into the top corner from the edge of the box, but the
goalscorer was sent off seven minutes later for stamping on
Banfield playmaker Walter Erviti.
Banfield went ahead again from the free-kick thanks to a
goal by midfielder Roberto Battion, which video replays showed
was offside.
Tempers flared for a few minutes when Inter's Uruguayan
coach Jorge Fossati was hit on the head by an object thrown
from the crowd.
Banfield sealed the win 10 minutes from time through
Uruguay striker Sebastian Fernandez.
"We beat a great rival. Luckily we got a good difference
(in the score) but it's not decisive," Erviti told Fox Sports.
Sao Paulo, three times South American champions, were the
more dangerous team at the Monumental in Lima where they hit
the post in the first half and had another effort cleared off
the line.
They were a man short for the last 25 minutes after forward
Richarlyson was shown a straight red card for a nasty tackle on
midfielder Rodolfo Espinoza.
Tuesday was a mixed night for Argentine teams on their
visits to Mexico where holders Estudiantes beat San Luis 1-0
but Velez Sarsfield lost 3-0 to Guadalajara.
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