Copa Sudamericana Round of 16 Review
South America’s second continental competition, Copa Sudamericana, is down to the last eight after the round of 16 ties were played out over the last two weeks. Three of the eight ties went all the way to the lottery of penalty kicks, and the final tie of the round saw one of the fastest red cards of all time — after just 9 seconds!
Round of 16 Review
Racing Club v Huachipato
The first Copa Sudamericana last 16 tie saw Argentinian side Racing Club take on struggling Chilean champions Huachipato, who find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle. Racing unsurprisingly made light work of their Chilean challengers, easing to a 2–0 away win in the first leg through Adrián Martínez and a late Juan Quintero penalty. But they kicked on a level in the home leg, scoring four times in the first half including a brace by Colombian winger Johan Carbonero. They added two more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half but settled for a 6–1 win and 8–1 aggregate success.
RB Bragantino v Corinthians
A much tighter tie saw Brazilian sides Bragantino and Corinthians go head to head. Corinthians seemed to have seized control as Giovane and Talles Magno had them 2–0 up inside 14 minutes of the away leg. But Bragantino dominated by 20 shots to 9 and got a goal back after the break through Helinho.
Corinthians bossed the first half of their home leg and took one chance through Rodrigo Garro’s heavily deflected strike. But Bragantino grew into it and eventually made their chances count, scoring twice in four minutes through Eduardo Sasha’s superb 20-yard volley and Luan Candido’s header from a corner. That forced extra time and, eventually, penalties. André Silva blazed Corinthians’ second penalty over and both teams coverted their following spot kicks, giving Gustavinho a chance to win it with Bragntino’s 5th — but it was superly saved. Ryan smashed one over and Douglas Mendes also had his penalty saved before Gustavo Henrique made it 5–4 to Corinthians. That meant Guilherme had to score to keep Bragantino in it, but Hugo Souza saved a 3rd successive penalty to send Corinthians through.
Rosario Central v Fortaleza
An Argentina-Brazil clash saw Rosario Central face last season’s beaten finalists Fortaleza. An exciting opening few minutes of the first leg in Argentina saw Marinho open the scoring inside 2 minutes for the visitors before Agustin Sández equalised 4 minutes later. But that was the end of the goalscoring. Rosario had more shots in the return leg and took the lead just after half time through Facundo Mallo. But Fortaleza equalised 5 minutes later through Juan Martín Lucero and took control of the tie with late Yago Pikachu and Lucas Sasha goals.
LDU Quito v Lanús
Holders LDU Quito took on Argentinian side Lanús in the last 16. But their title defence wasn’t looking good as they lost 2–1 at home despite taking the lead through Alex Arce. And their exit was confirmed as Lanús dominated their home leg and won 3–1 with gold by Walter Bou, Carlos Izquierdoz and Lautaro Acosta.
Palestino v Independiente Medellín
An intriguing tie saw Chile’s Palestino face Colombia’s Independiente Medellín. Independiente led the away leg through Joaquín Varela’s goal just before half time, but a quickfire double from Iván Hurtado and Nicolás Linares looked to have earned the hosts a victory. However, Varela struck again in the 3rd minute of injury time. And that late goal swung the tie as Independiente dominated their home leg, winning 4–0 through a Hurtado own goal, Jaime Alvarado, a Leyser Rentería penalty and Baldomero Perlaza.
Libertad v Sportivo Ameliano
Arguably the hardest matchup to call was an all-Paraguayan tie between Libertad taking and the group stage’s surprise package Sportivo Ameliano. Ameliano led the away leg on 27 minutes through Alejandro Ramírez but Libertad earned a draw through Matías Espinoza’s 58th-minute equaliser. Libertad then dominated the away leg by 17 shots to 5 and 72% of possession, but the sides only mustered 4 on target and drew 0–0 to go to penalties. Libertad went first and veteran striker missed, both teams scored their next 2 until Richard Rívero missed Ameliano’s 3rd. Both sides scored their 4th but missed their 5th penalties. Iván Franco scored to put Libertad on the edge, and Aldo Maiz missed to send Libertad through.
Athlético Paranaense v Belgrano
Another Argentina-Brazil clash saw Athlético Paranense take on Belgrano. The Argentinians started well as Franco Jara scored in the 1st minute of the away leg. But Paranaense came back to win an entertaining game in which they shared 38 shots 2–1 through Erick and Christian. A strange 2nd leg saw Belgrano dominate the game with 14 shots and 77% of possession, but they failed to get a single shot on target. And Paranaense took advantage as, despite having Lucas Esquivel sent off on 21 minutes, Gonzalo Mastriani and Lucas Di Yorio scored 2 of their 3 shots.
Boca Juniors v Cruzeiro
The final last 16 tie was another clash between the two biggest South American footballing nations. Boca Juniors just about edged the home leg of their clash with Cruzeiro, winning 1–0 courtesy of Edinson Cavani’s 65th-minute goal. The second leg began with a bang as Boca full back Luis Advincula was sent off for a rash challenge after NINE seconds! Cruzeiro took advantage to go 2–0 up inside 21 minutes through Matheus Henrique and Walace’s scruffy half volley. But Boca rallied and struck back, as Milton Giménez neatly took the ball down and equalised in first-half injury time. Cruzeiro unsurprisingly bossed the game but couldn’t find a way through, despite Matheus Pereira’s delicious chipped effort coming back off the inside of the post, and it went to penalties. Both teams scored their first 4 penalties, Álvaro Barreal tucked home Cruzeiro’s 5th to put the pressure on Miguel Merentiel, who blazed over the bar to hand the hosts victory.
You can watch all the goals from these games on the Copa Sudamericana YouTube channel.
Copa Sudamericana Last 16 Results
Huachipato 0–2 Racing Club
Racing Club 6–1 Huachipato (8–1 on aggregate)
Bragantino 1–2 Corinthians
Corinthians 1–2 Bragantino (3–3 on aggregate)
Corinthians win 5–4 on penalties
Rosario Central 1–1 Fortaleza
Fortaleza 3–1 Rosario Central (4–2 on aggregate)
LDU Quito 1–2 Lanús
Lanús 3–1 LDU Quito (5–2 on aggregate)
Palestino 2–2 Independiente Medellín
Independiente Medellín 4–0 Palestino
Libertad 1–1 Sportivo Ameliano
Sportivo Ameliano 0–0 Libertad (1–1 on aggregate)
Libertad win 4–3 on penalties
Athlético Paranaense 2–1 Belgrano
Belgrano 0–2 Athlético Paranaense (1–4 on aggregate)
Boca Juniors 1–0 Cruzeiro
Cruzeiro 2–1 Boca Juniors (2–2 on aggregate)
Cruzeiro win 5–4 on penalties
Copa Sudamericana Quarter Finals
Four of the eight remaining sides are Brazilian and the quarter final serves up one all-Brazilian tie in which arguably the two favourites to win the tournament go head-to-head. Fortaleza will play Corinthians, Lanús take on Independiente Medellín, Libertad face Cruzeiro and Athlético Paranaense play Racing Club.
The Copa Sudamericana quarter-final ties are played over the weeks of 18 September and 25 September. We’ll return to review the Copa Sudamericana knockouts as the tournament progresses!
