2023-08-30 00:51:05
BOGOTÁ (AP) — Two goals from forward Enner Valencia helped Internacional de Porto Alegre beat Bolívar 2-0 on Tuesday to advance to the Copa Libertadores semifinals for the first time since 2015.
A week after scoring the winning goal in La Paz, Valencia sealed their decisive performance in the quarterfinal series with the goal that opened the scoring after 10 minutes and the final score in the second half.
The Ecuadorian attacker, who reinforced Internacional after the group stage, put the Brazilian team on track for victory, after completing an individual play by winger Wanderson.
“I am living a dream. Today, once again, Inter and the squad showed greatness with this match”, commented Valencia. “We don’t want to stay here, we are happy with the classification, we must continue with this morale and go far in this Libertadores.”
In the final stage of the first half, the game was stopped for about 10 minutes due to acts of violence outside the Beira Río stadium, which led to the launch of gases by the police forces that affected the players of both teams.
In the second period, Valencia increased the gap in the 60th minute with a powerful shot from inside the area, after receiving a pass from Alan Patrick and breaking the mark of defender Bryan Bentaberry.
Bolívar wasted the opportunity to discount at 85 minutes through a maximum penalty by Ronnie Fernández, which was saved by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, another of the leading figures in the International standings.
Internacional, champion of the Libertadores in 2006 and 2010, will meet its rival in the semifinals on Thursday when the confrontation between Olimpia and Fluminense takes place in Asunción. The cariocas have a 2-0 advantage.
This Wednesday the duel of the other key will be defined with the duels Racing-Boca Juniors (0-0 in the first leg) and Palmeiras-Deportivo Pereira (4-0).
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