Argentine league leaders Lanus suffered a damaging 2-1 home loss to Chilean club Everton on Tuesday to leave the Buenos Aires side practically eliminated from the group stages of the Copa Libertadores.
Ecuadorean side Deportivo Cuenca , meanwhile, revived their challenge for a final 16 spot with a commanding 3-1 home win over Deportivo Tachira of Venezuela in Group 2.
The day’s third match saw the all-Colombian meeting between hosts Independiente Medellin and America de Cali end in a disappointing 0-0 draw in Group 4.
PHOTO: AP
Everton rallied to shock Lanus in Buenos Aires with a stoppage-time strike from late substitute Jose Munoz.
Lanus took the lead in the 29th minute when Santiago Biglieri was on hand to score after striker Jose Sand had his penalty saved by Everton goalkeeper Gustavo Dalsasso.
Dalsasso produced a man-of-the-match performance with a number of key stops during the encounter, but gave away the penalty for a foul on Lanus playmaker Sebastian Blanco.
PHOTO: EPA
Roberto Gutierrez leveled the scores in the 53rd minute with a searing left-footed drive following a clinical counterattack by the visitors.
Lanus has won five out of six games in the Argentine league since the turn of the year, but form in the Libertadores has been disastrous.
The injury-time winner by Munoz left the Buenos Aires club wallowing in last place in Group 6, with just two points from four games. Everton moved to a share of the lead on seven points with Mexican club Chivas.
Deportivo Cuenca kept pace with the leaders in Group 2 after their win over Deportivo Tachira.
The result pushed Cuenca to the top of Group 2 on six points, ahead of Tachira and Boca Juniors on goal difference, though the Argentines have two games in hand.
Cuenca slumped to a 1-0 loss to Tachira last Wednesday, but controlled the return match in Ecuador with ease.
Jose Granda took advantage of slack marking at a quickly taken short corner to rifle a deflected shot into the roof of Manuel Sanhouse’s net in the 20th minute.
The home side extended the lead in the 40th minute when Villalba twisted free of his marker on the right. The forward’s floated center allowed unmarked Brazilian striker Rodrigo Teixeira to head home.
Cuenca refused to ease up in the second half and Teixeira scored his second when Sanhouse made a mess of a routine long shot from Holguer Matamoros. The Tachira keeper could only push the ball out and the Brazilian accepted the gift to tap home.
A Javier Villafraz free-kick in the 76th minute was scant consolation for Tachira, with Lucas Bovaglio compounding the visitors’ misery with a red card three minutes after the goal.
Goal scorers were in short supply in Group 4 as the two Colombian clubs, Independiente Medellin and America de Cali, followed last weeks 1-1 draw with a 0-0 draw on Tuesday.
The two stalemates have helped neither club. America are all but eliminated after earning just two points from four games. Medellin are tied at the top of the group with four points, but Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting and Brazilian champions Sao Paulo have two games in hand.
America’s Camilo Angulo was sent off after 75 minutes for a second bookable offense.
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