Palmeiras beat Cerro Porteño and seal Libertadores progress | OneFootball

Palmeiras have qualified for the quarter-finals of the CONMEBOL Libertadores. With a goal from Gustavo Gómez, Verdão beat Cerro Porteño 1-0 this Wednesday (19) at Estádio Ueno La Nueva Olla in Asunción, Paraguay, and secured their place in the next round.

In the first leg, played at Nubank Parque in São Paulo, Palmeiras and Cerro Porteño drew 1-1. Flaco López scored for Verdão, while the Paraguayan equalizer came after a mistake by Carlos Miguel.

Now, Palmeiras await the definition of their next opponent in the Libertadores quarter-finals, who will be known in the coming days depending on the outcome of the other round-of-16 ties.

A hard-fought match, the captain makes the difference!

Right in the first minute, Cerro threatened Palmeiras’ defense. After that, the match became more physical, with both teams creating few chances.

In the 16th minute, Palmeiras responded through Piquerez, who tried his luck from outside the box, but without causing much danger.

In the 38th minute, Lucas Evangelista got on the end of a fine cross from Arias and shot, but the Cerro defense cleared it almost off the line.

From the following corner, in the 40th minute, Arias picked out Gustavo Gómez with a header, and he rose well to open the scoring for Palmeiras in Paraguay.

Closing in on qualification!

In the 59th minute, Jhon Arias swung in a free kick onto Murilo’s head, and his header was dangerous, but it was stopped by the Cerro Porteño goalkeeper. Moments later, from a corner kick, Gustavo Gómez threatened again.

In the 67th minute, the referee called for a hydration break. Palmeiras controlled the match well, stayed solid defensively and got forward at times. What Verdão lacked, however, was greater efficiency to extend the lead.

In the 79th minute, Marlon Freitas received the ball inside the box and shot, but it struck an opponent’s hand. The Palmeiras players appealed for a penalty, but the referee waved play on. VAR did not recommend a review of the incident.

In the 91st minute, Carlos Miguel came up big! After his mistake in the first leg, the goalkeeper redeemed himself with a great save to preserve Palmeiras late in the match.

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