Details and highlights of the second phase of the Copa Sudamericana 2011 championship.
Details
The second phase of Copa Sudamericana 2011 was the stage at which the biggest sides joined the competition. 8 Brazilians sides and six Argentine sides entered at this stage as well as the top seeded clubs from the other eight nations.
The first four ties to be completed were the ones featuring Brazilian sides. São Paulo came back from a 2-1 defeat in their first leg against Ceará to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate. Botafogo won both of their ties against Atlético Mineiro to progress to the next stage, Flamengo also cruised through their tie against Atlético Paranaense winning both legs 1-0 and Vasco Da Gama managed to scrape through on away goals against Palmeiras.
Of the Argentine sides two of the three ties were won by the underdogs. Arsenal de Sarandí, the minnows that won Copa Sudamericana in 2007 overcame Estudiantes and Godoy Cruz (a team that has never won a major trophy) eliminated Lanús on the away goals rule. Reigning Argentine champions Vélez Sársfield struggled in their first leg against Argentinos Juniors but progressed thanks to a thumping 4-0 win in their home leg. These three Argentine sides will be joined in the quarter finals by Independiente, who received a bye as reigning champions.
All of the video highlights are available by scrolling down to the Results section and clicking on the red scores.
Preview
Preview & Predictions - Sorry no time for preview and predictions for fecha 5, but I did manage to knock together a preview for the Apertura 2011 tournament here
Match reports
The first game of the round featured the two teams that traditionally sport distinctive red and black halved tops. Newell's Old Boys were the home side but probably the happier to come away with a 0-0 draw, a result that reinforces their newfound defensive stability, Colón on the other hand must have been very disappointed to have wasted the chance to move to the top of the table.
In the second game Banfield continued their dismal start to the season with a fifth consecutive defeat, this time losing 1-0 at Tigre. Banfield remain pointless and goalless at the bottom of the division, while Tigre moved up .
In the late game on Friday San Lorenzo missed their chance to take leadership of the division with a surprise 0-1 home defeat to Belgrano, who celebrated their first win of the season thanks to Cesár Mansanelli's long range strike in the first half.
After a poor start to the season Godoy Cruz recorded an impressive 1-2 away win at Arsenal to move up into the top half of the table. Racing Club were the third team of the weekend to miss their opportunity to become stand alone leaders of the division after they could only manage a 0-0 draw at All Boys.
Lanús improved their championship credentials with a 2-1 win against Estudiantes to move two points clear at the top of the table, and ensuring that they would finish the weekend in the top three even if Atletico Rafaela and Boca Juniors won their games in hand. The defeat was another dismal result for Estudiantes, who have now only won one of their last 22 games in all competitions.
Ceará
Arsenal (Sarandí)
Anzoategui
Universitario
Universidad Cátolica
Nacional
La Equidad
Libertad
Aurora
Emelec
