Copa Libertadores 2012, Tuesday Wrap: Universidad de Chile Win, Peñarol Eliminated

Last year’s Copa Libertadores runners-up, Peñarol, have been eliminated from the competition with just one point from four games. They were mathematically knocked out on Tuesday night by Sudamericana champions Universidad de Chile, who now sit in second place in Group 8. Elsewhere, Nacional of Uruguay won to put the heat on Vasco da Gama and Libertad.

Group 5 looked like one of the most intriguing when the tournament started and it looks like it’s going to go down to the wire. With their win on Tuesday, Nacional are now just one point behind Libertad and Vasco. Alianza sit on three points, four behind the leaders, and aren’t out of it yet.

Alianza defended well for most of the game, but gifted the winner to Nacional with their lack of concentration in the second half. Some indecisive goalkeeping by Solomon Libman allowed Vicente Sanchez to find Tibare Viudez for a tap-in goal in the 68th minute.

This should effectively eliminate Deportivo Tachira. They need to defeat both Cruz Azul and Corinthians in their final two games. They’re also going to need Nacional to beat Cruz Azul, but lose to Corinthians, unless they find an unlikely way to make up the goal differential. The top two teams in Group 6 will feel good about their qualification chances after seeing this result.

Peñarol couldn’t have possibly been eliminated from the competition in a more heartbreaking way. La U’s Matias Rodriguez opened the scoring two minutes in with a great close-range finish after Fabian Carini had made a good stop, but the save deflected into Rodriguez’s path. In the 11th minute, Joao Pedro hauled down Eugenio Mena in the box, resulting in a penalty for La U. Jose Rojas stepped up, but hit a bad shot wide right.

In the 51st minute, Carlos Valdez equalized for Peñarol with a header on a corner kick. Johnny Herrera got his hands to the header, but inexplicably failed to handle the ball and push it away, dropping it over the line for a goal. A draw would have kept them in the competition, but Rodriguez completed a brace in stoppage time. Carini rushed out to try and smother an attempt from Mena, but he cut back and hit a centering pass to Rodriguez. He finished into the goal with no keeper, giving La U a massive win.