River Plate was defeated 1-3 by Deportivo Cali on Tuesday and was eliminated in the first phase of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana. Dionicio Pérez scored again, just like in the first leg, but it was not enough to keep the team from the Mburicaó neighborhood in Asunción alive.
The Colombian representative demonstrated its superiority in these competitions and struck at strategic moments, such as in Palmaseca Monumental, to secure the qualification.
THE MATCH.
El Kelito, who had to recover from a 2-1 loss suffered in Colombia a week ago, conceded a goal from the Colombian team very early. In the 13th minute, forward Ángelo Rodríguez took advantage of a defensive mistake to open the scoring in Villa Elisa.
The goal hit the self-esteem of the Paraguayan team, which came close to suffering another goal, this time from Agustín Palavecino (18 m). However, they weathered the toughest moments and approached the opponent's goal, creating a concrete opportunity to equalize with the intervention of Ramón Sosa before halftime.
In the second half, Marcelo Philipp's team entered with a different determination, determined to use all their resources to try to come back and continue in the international tournament. They believed in the mission because they equalized before the hour mark through Dionicio Pérez (53 m).
Motivated by the equality, River Plate experienced their best moments and came very close to opening a gap in Deportivo Cali's defense with a powerful shot from Ramón Sosa.
However, this favorable situation was abruptly interrupted in the 66th minute when the referee awarded a controversial penalty to Ángelo Rodríguez against goalkeeper Pablo Gavilán. Agustín Palavecino's goal was a cold shower from which the home team could not recover (68 m).
In the final stretch of the match, El Kelito burnt all their bridges to leave the field with their heads held high. Despite the difficulties, the newcomer to these battles never threw in the towel and tried to avoid, at least, the defeat.
They suffered deep counterattacks and through that avenue, the third goal for the opponent was scored by Agustín Palavecino (89 m), which sealed the game at Sol de América's home.