In the wake of a surprising classification for the quarter-finals of the Libertadores Cup, River Plate managed an ‘encore’ of their 2003 performance and eliminated the Timão smack bang in the middle of hostile territory: Pacaembu stadium in the city of São Paulo.

After a game that saw a rising tide of violence force the ref to call an early end to the match as fans tore down the fence and started to invade the pitch. There was also a scare for visiting Chelsea boss José Mourinho, who had to beat a hasty retreat out of a threatened VIP box as host Kia Joorabchian began to take the brunt of furious fans’ anger.

Goiás had to bid farewell to the first – impressive, albeit truncated – participation in Libertadores as an away goal put Argentinean outfit Estudiantes through to the quarter-finals, Calderón’s goal scotching the dreams of the locals who, nevertheless, go out with their chins up. The remaining tie saw Tigres slide out of contention as the Mexicans were held to a goalless draw by Paraguayans Libertad.

Corinthians 1 x 3 River Plate
Goals: Nilmar (C), Coelho (C) (own goal), Higuain (2)(RP)
Venue: Pacaembu stadium, São Paulo (SP)

Higuain Celebrates Decisive Brace

Although Dyego Coelho showed the same clumsiness apparently suffered by his parents with spelling o give the Millonarios a gift of an own goal, the hero of the day was River attacker Gonzalo Higuaín, who celebrated his sharpshooting afterwards.

“I was very fortunate to be able to score a brace. All I can add is that it make me extremely happy to know that I helped classify River Plate for the quarter-finals”, explained the player who came on for Abán in the 54th minute with the game tied at one-all.

Six minutes later he scored the 1-2 culminating a swift counter-attack, and ten minutes from time the number 9 gave the coup de grace to Corinthians with the third and definitive goal. The match soon degenerated into chaos and the ref called an early end seeing as the result was a foregone conclusion.

Aaron Marcus