Argentine triumph 2-1 with two goals from Nicolás Fernández after the 1-1 first leg
El Halcón is the last representative of his country in the tournament, like Boca in the Libertads
Defense and Justice defeated this Wednesday by 2-1 to Botafogo to seal his passport to the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana thanks to a double by Nicolás Fernández, which allowed him to unbalance a series that had registered a tie in one in the first leg played in Brazil. Nicolás ‘Uvita’ Fernández was the great protagonist of the night for Halcón, which became the only Argentine team in this phase of the Copa Sudamericana after the elimination of Estudiantes de La Plata on Tuesday at the hands of the Brazilian Corinthians.
Julio Vaccari’s team took the lead from the start of the match and after 15 minutes they already had their first prize with a double defensive error from the visit, which Gastón Togni took advantage of for a perfect cross for the scoring arrival of ‘Uvita’ Fernandez. Then Defense dosed the efforts but maintained its offensive vocation against a rival who bet too much on the scoring card of the Spanish Diego Costa, who had an option in the 32nd minute but his shot went wide.
When everything seemed to indicate that they would go into the break with the home advantage, in the third minute of extra time Lucas Fernandes fired a free kick that hit the post and then bounced off Enrique Bologna to seal the tie both in the score and in the series.
In the second half, Defense went out to look for the advantage again on the scoreboard with Santiago Solari as the fundamental piece of the attack and David Barbona as the perfect partner. In the 72nd minute the final gap came on the scoreboard with a cross from Alexis Soto who again found the accurate header from Nicholas Fernandez to beat the door of Roberto Fernández again.
With a great presence of its public, Defense resisted the last minutes of the onslaught of the Rio team in search of a tie, which never came and sealed the passport of Defense and Justice to the semifinals. The rival of the Argentines will be the winner of the series between Liga de Quito and São Paulo, which this Thursday will complete a series that began last week with a 2-1 victory for the Ecuadorian team at the Morumbí stadium.
The Falcon’s dream is to repeat a title that they already achieved in 2020 at the hands of Hernán Crespo, when they kept the trophy after beating their compatriot Lanús 3-0 in a final played at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in the city of Cordova.