Palmeiras beat Atletico Nacional

Sao Paulo:

Edmundo scored a goal and led Palmeiras to a 3-2 victory on Thursday over Colombia's Atletico Nacional in the Copa Libertadores. The win lifted Palmeiras into a tie with Paraguay's Cerro Porteno for the lead in Group 7. The teams are even with four points, trailed by Atletico Nacional with three and Argentina's Rosario Central with zero. Atletico nearly surprised Palmeiras in the 14th minutes with some neat footwork by veteran striker Victor Aristizabal who sent in Vladimir Marin with a pass, but the defender misfired. Marcinho opened the scoring for Palmeiras five minutes later, taking a cross in the goalmouth and heading the ball into the left corner. Atletico turned up the pressure, and Marin and Aldo Ramirez tested Palmeiras keeper Sergio. Marcelo Ramos evened the score in the 30th minute, tapping the ball into the net on a lapse by the Palmeiras' defence. Edmundo shines But the night belonged to Edmundo, a World Cup veteran who led Palmeiras to the national title in 1993 and 1994 and returned to the club this year. In the 35th minute, Edmundo leaped to head a ball in the penalty area, and Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda whistled a hand penalty against Atletico. Edmundo converted the shot and made it 2-1. Atletico nearly got the equalizer, but a goal by Aristizabel was called back for offsides. Andres Casanas slipped behind the defence and fired a shot that nicked the far post as the half ended. Both teams had good chances in the second half, but Palmeiras widened its lead in the 71st minute when Correa took a foul shot and Douglas slipped through the defence to head the ball in for a 3-1 lead. Atletico came right back, and Aristizabal collected a pinpoint pass to beat Sergio a minute later to make it 3-2. But Palmeiras was in control, and Edmundo just missed widening the score in injury time. He lofted a crossing pass that struck keeper Andres Saldarriaga and squeaked over the crossbar. (AP)