Tigre cling on to their Libertadores dreams
Another good night for Argentine sides in The Copa Libertadores last night as Velez Sarsfield confirmed their place in the next round as group winners and Tigre, having looked down and out some weeks ago, now have one must win game left to qualify. After the first couple of rounds there was a lot of doom and gloom surrounding Argentina’s representatives this year but with Velez and Boca guaranteed, Newell’s 99% there and now Tigre and Arsenal in with a shout, things are not so bleak. Velez drew 0 – 0 with Emelec in Liniers, enough for both teams to qualify despite Peñarol crushing Iquique by three goals. Meanwhile, Tigre won 3 – 1 at home against Sporting Cristal so a win over Libertad in the final round of fixtures would probably be enough to see them through. REPORTS AND GOALS HERE….
TIGRE 3 – 1 SPORTING CRISTAL
Tigre were able to capitalise on some sloppy defending from their Chilean opponents to go into a two goal lead. Both chances were neatly converted, the first by Leandro Leguizamon and the second, just after half time, by Matias Perez Garcia. 2 minutes later Cristal were reduced to 10 men and immediately after the game was put to bed by a wonderful piece of individual skill. The supremely talented, Ruben Botta dribbled his way into the penalty box before finishing expertly. He will undoubtedly be a miss to Tigre and the Primera once he completes his reported move to Inter Milan in July. Cristal did manage a consolation but it was mission accomplished for Tigre who now have to travel to Paraguay to face Libertad, knowing another win is needed.
GROUP 2
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Libertad
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 |
 Palmeiras
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
 Tigre
|
5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 6 |
 Sporting Cristal
|
5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 5 |
Libertad and Palmeiras play tomorrow night.
VELEZ SARSFIELD 0 – 0 EMELEC
The game itself offered not a great deal to discuss, other than a disallowed goal for Emelec in the first half after the eagle eyed linesman spotted a handball. Both sides seemed fairly content with the score as for Velez it meant winning Group 4 and Emelec could follow them through as runners up. Elsewhere, Uruguayans Peñarol defeated Iquique 3 – 0 but it was not enough to snatch second place. So, Velez are safely through with 13 points, which should see them get a good seeding in the next stage.
GROUP 4
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Vélez Sársfield
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 13 |
 Emelec
|
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 10 |
 Peñarol
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
 Iquique
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 |
The video is of the hand ball incident, which perhaps tells you about the game….
