(EFE) – Atlético Goianiense thrashed Nacional 3-0 on Tuesday with a brace from Luiz Fernando, who eclipsed a Luis Suárez who only played 45 minutes, and qualified for the semi-finals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, in which they will face with the winner of the duel between Sao Paulo and Ceará, also Brazilians.
Dragao, who won all five games they played at home for the Sudamericana this year, advanced to the semifinals with a double victory, since they had beaten Nacional 1-0 in the first leg in Montevideo and could qualify even with a draw at home.
A brace by Luiz Fernando – who had scored the goal in the first leg and ended up being sent off in the last minute of the game – and a goal by Baralhas made Goianiense the first semifinalist in the South American.
World Cup player Suárez, who was Nacional’s hope for a comeback and has already scored his first goal after his return to Uruguay this month, started the game on the bench and only entered the field in the second half, when the tricolors already needed a miracle .
The game started evenly, with the two teams taking turns on offense, but Goianiense unbalanced it with an early goal, after 5 minutes, in which Luiz Fernando perfectly finished off an assist from Argentina’s Diego Churín.
The Uruguayan team immediately went on the attack and in a few minutes created three dangerous opportunities.
Despite Nacional’s reaction, the locals maintained control, neutralized the Uruguayans and bet on counterattacks, in one of which Rochet saved Leo Pereira’s shot after a new assist from Churín.
After 20 minutes, veteran goalkeeper Renán, who replaced the injured Ronaldo at the last minute, prevented the tie by saving Gigliotti’s dangerous shot.
With Nacional neutralized, Goianiense increased their dominance more and more and created new opportunities, mainly with Luiz Fernando and Churín, in an attempt to widen the score.
That pressure allowed Gabriel Baralhas to score the second in the last minute of the first half when he finished a counterattack driven by Churín, so that Goianiense went into the break with a wide lead.
Urged by a miracle, the coach of Nacional, Pablo Repetto, sent a more offensive team for the second half, with three changes, finally including the entry of Suárez.
But after 7 minutes, before the striker touched the ball, Luiz Fernando scored his second in the game and his third against Nacional, again after assistance from Churín, and practically defined the classification.
Goianiense did not stop the pressure and replaced Churín with Airton, a new attacker, which continued to bring danger with counterattacks, while Suárez only managed his first dangerous shot in the 69th minute.
Nacional had its best chance in the 83rd minute with a shot by Fagúndez, but Renan prevented the discount, and the rest of the game was limited to seeing the locals managing their wide lead.
The classification was overshadowed by the expulsion in the minutes of added time of the striker Luiz Fernando, who will miss the next match.
