It was against San Lorenzo that Lanús celebrated their 2016 Transición triumph but on Wednesday evening in the Nuevo Gasómetro, Los Cuervos exacted revenge, taking a commanding first leg lead as the two sides met in the Copa Libertadores quarter final.

Diego Aguirre has found himself back under pressure after an embarrassing Copa Argentina exit and a slow start to the Superliga campaign but having saved players for the Libertadores, El Ciclón were much the better side against Lanús.

Having already gone close, San Lorenzo took the lead after 33 minutes when Nicolás Blandi turned away from Diego Braghieri to curl the ball past Esteban Andrada.

Lanús needed to steady the ship and could afford no more errors but shortly after half time the usually dependable Jose Luis Gomez tried to dribble his way out of danger in the penalty area, lost the ball and then gave the slightest of tugs on Blandi prompting Wilmar Rodan to point to the spot.

The 27-year-old stepped up and sent Andrada the wrong way to double the lead and while José Sand drew a decent save from Nicolás Navarro at the other end it was difficult to argue that Lanús deserved much more.

The sides meet in La Fortaleza next Thursday but Lanús have a huge task if they are to reach the semi finals.