A Timao of circumstances achieved the crush of going to the quarterfinals on penalties (5-6) after repeating the 0-0 first leg
The Xeneizes had it all in their face and could have sentenced in the first half, in which Benedetto missed a penalty
Corinthians, punished by injuries, managed to get out of La Bombonera alive and qualify, in an agonizing way, for the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. They eliminated Boca Juniors on penalties (5-6) without having scored a single goal in 180 minutes of play, repeating the 0-0 in Sao Paulo and, now, in Buenos Aires.
The Corinthians thing is a miracle, because it is among the eight best on the continent without having shot even once between the three sticks in the second leg. Moreover, his entire offensive proposal ended up reduced to a single completion.
El Timao, who had very important casualties in all his sectors, survived and prevailed by appealing to an epic that is his hallmark, mainly in local competitions and which he has now exported in the Libertadores. In an endless series of penalties, in which there were up to eight shots for each team, Cassius he saved two shots, there was a shot by Benedetto to the clouds, which if it went in meant classification, and Gil scored the decisive goal.
BENEDETTO FORGIVED AND BOCA PAID FOR IT
The Xeneizes pardoned Timao in a first half in which they could have sentenced the game and the tie. Benedetto took the cake with two resounding errors: the first, sending a center from Zeballos to the clouds in a grotesque shot in which he had no one to pressure him; and the second, a penalty, for an elbow by Raul Gustavo in the face of Pol Fernández that he misjudged and hit the left post of Cassio’s goal.
⚽? The penalty that defined the series!
⚫⚪ Gil converted the sixth goal of @Corinthians and the Brazilians advanced to the quarterfinals.#Eternal glory pic.twitter.com/IvDykr1p5L
– CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) July 6, 2022
Vitor Pereira set up a back five to contain the local momentum but was sold for many minutes. Timao arrived groggy at the break, losing his central defender Joao Vitor (who has already been sold to Benfica) due to the impetus of Óscar Romero. In attack, the paulistas did not even appear.
In the second half, Timao didn’t play at all but he didn’t have any big problems either. The clearest occasion was in the boots of Benedetto who continued with his fateful night, which would culminate with a new grotesque shot in the penalty shootout.
Corinthians will face the winner of the duel Flamengo-Tolima in the quarterfinals this next morning in Maracana. In the first leg, the Rubronegros won 0-1.