Boca draw 1-1 with Cruzeiro, last-16 bid goes to final day | OneFootball

The Xeneize took the lead through a goal from Miguel Merentiel, but the Fox leveled it with a strike by Fagner. Merentiel had the winning goal ruled out in the second half, and the visitors finished with 10 men after Gerson was sent off.

The home side showed from the start that it had to win and created several early chances. First it was Miguel Merentiel, who got a lucky break on a clearance and tested Otavio, then got on the end of a cross from Lautaro Blanco only to be denied again by the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Milton Giménez had a chance from a rebound off a shot by Tomás Aranda, and the goal eventually came from a set piece.

Leandro Paredes took a free kick aimed at goal that went through the box and found Merentiel arriving at the back post, where he lifted his foot to put the Xeneize in front. After that, possession was more evenly shared and the visitors, despite having good ball handlers in Matheus Pereira and Gerson, did not threaten much apart from a solo run by Kaio Jorge that Leandro Brey dealt with.

Boca were not clinical against Cruzeiro

The second half began and Cruzeiro started to grow into the game. They pushed a few yards higher up the pitch and, after sustained possession, produced a great team move to equalize. Kaiky got the better of Malcom Braida and sent in a cross that found Fagner for the 1-1. The Brazilian side were the better team and came close to taking the lead, but Christian missed it, and then they were reduced to ten men.

Gerson went in for a challenge with Leandro Paredes and caught him on the knee with his studs. VAR called the referee over and Jesús Valenzuela showed the former Roma player a red card. Ubeda’s side took control again and created several more chances, including a free kick from Paredes, a shot by Aranda, and a header from substitute Exequiel Zeballos. Merentiel scored, but it was ruled out by technology for a previous handball by Milton Delgado.

As the minutes passed, Boca kept piling into the box, even with Ángel Romero, but could not find the breakthrough. The visitors defended as best they could with a man down and were satisfied with the point, remaining in control of their own fate going into the final round.

In the next matchday, Boca will host Universidad Católica, while Cruzeiro will do the same at home against Barcelona.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.