Highlights: 2011 Copa Libertadores, Group 5

  Reports & highlights of Group 5 in the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Results


15-02-11
Deportivo Táchira (Ven) 0-0 Santos (Bra)
17-02-11
Cerro Porteño (Par) 5-2 Colo-Colo (Chi)
01-03-11
Deportivo Táchira (Ven) 2-4 Colo-Colo (Chi)
02-03-11
Santos (Bra) 1-1 Cerro Porteño (Par)
10-03-11
Cerro Porteño (Par) 1-1 Deportivo Táchira (Ven)
16-03-11
Colo-Colo (Chi) 3-2 Santos (Bra)
05-04-11
Deportivo Táchira (Ven) 0-2 Cerro Porteño (Par)
06-04-11
Santos (Bra) 3-2 Colo-Colo (Chi)
12-04-11
Colo-Colo (Chi) 2-1 Deportivo Táchira (Ven)
13-04-11
Cerro Porteño (Par) 1-2 Santos (Bra)
20-04-11
Colo-Colo (Chi) 2-3 Cerro Porteño (Par)
Santos (Bra) 3-1 Deportivo Táchira (Ven)


Table

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Paraguay Cerro Porteño 6 3 2 1 13 8 +5 11
Brazil Santos 6 3 2 1 11 8 +3 11
Chile Colo-Colo 6 3 0 3 15 16 −1 9
Venezuela Deportivo Táchira 6 0 2 4 5 12 −7 2

Match reports

Round 1

After Corintians failure to progress through the qualifying round Santos were the next Brazilian side to slip up dropping points in a 0-0 away draw against Venezuelan side Deportivo Táchira. After the boring stalemate of the first game the second game provided plenty of entertainment with Cerro Porteño beating Colo-Colo 5-2. A brilliant result for the Paraguayan side who saw Argentine striker Roberto Nanni bag a couple of goals and his 17 year old countryman Juan Manuel Iturbe bag a couple more as a 2nd half substitute.

Round 2

By the time the second round of games came around Colo-Colo had found themselves a new manager, Argentine veteran coach made his debut as their coach in a potentially tough looking tie against Deportivo Táchira however they cruised through the game, establishing a four goal lead before Táchira pulled a couple of goals back in the dying minutes of the game.

In their second game Santos dropped more points, this time in front of their own fans in a 1-1 draw against Cerro Porteñ. The Brazilians went ahead early in thesecond half with a penalty from former Manchester City player Elano but the Paraguayans bagged a 90th minute equaliser with a penalty from Roberto Nanni.

Round 3

Cerro Perteño extended their lead at the top of the group with a 1-1 home draw against Deportivo Táchira however dropping points at home against the Venezuelans will be considered a big waste. Cerro's influential Argentine forward Roberto Nanni put the home side ahead with an intelligent shot to beat Manuel Sanhouse at his near post but Sergio Herrera equalised for the visitors with a quality goals, in which he controlled a long ball, retained posession, nutmegged Roberto Burgos and fired a powerful long range shot into the net.

The following week Colo-Colo took over as leaders of the group with a 3-2 home win against a star studded Santos side in our game of the week. The Brazilians took an early lead when Juan Castillo in the Colo-Colo goal failed to read the swerve on an Elano free kick and dominated the next twenty minutes or so as their shellshocked hosts tried to get back into the game. The equaliser came in the 27th minute when Esteban Paredes picked himself up from a stumbling challenge from Durval to chip the ball into the far top corner and from that point until the end of the first half it was one way traffic with two more goals for Colo-Colo from Ezequiel Miralles and Andés Scotti. Neymar pulled a goal back for Santos in the second half but the home side held on for a famous victory. After their pathetic start to the season new manager Américo Gallego has them playing some really good stuff, they have now won five consecutive games in all competitions and last night's result was their first Copa Libertadores home win against Brazilian opposition in 14 years.

Round 4

 The return tie between Santos and Colo-Colo was also a classic. The Brazilians won 3-2 in a game which also featured five red cards and was selected as our game of the week.

Cerro Porteño stayed at the top of the group after a 0-2 away win against Deportivo Táchira. Roberto Nanni scored a great goal to finish off a nice move for their first and Iván Torres scored with a dipping shot from outside the area in the second half.

Round 5

Colo-Colo eliminated Deportivo Táchira from the competition with a 2-1 home win. The hosts fell behind after only four minutes but a brace from Diego Rubio secured the win for Colo-Colo. The result lifted the Chileans to the top of the group and left Brazilian side Santos needing to avoid defeat in their fifth game against Cerro Porteño in Paragauy. Even a draw would have left them in big trouble with three points to make up and an inferior goal difference, but they managed to earn themselves a valuable 1-2 away win to give themselves an excellent chance of making the knockout phase.

Round 6

Santos secured their place in the knockout stages with a comfortable 3-1 home win against bottom of the table Deportivo Táchira. Neymar, Jonathan Cícero and Danilo da Silva bagged the goals for the home team who qualified despite their poor start to the group phase.

The other place went to Cerro Porteño who secured quilfication thenk to a late goal from Jonathan Fabbro to give them a 3-2 win aginst Colo-Colo. Neutrals will be sad to see Colo-Colo go out as they were one of the most entertaining teams in the tournament, their six games featured 31 goals, an average of more than four goals a game.


For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine and Brazilian leagues, the pick of the rest and other international tournaments:

No comments:

Post a Comment