Paranaense route Chivas 3-0

Curitiba:

Atletico Paranaense of Brazil routed an under-strength Chivas of Guadalajara 3-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final in Curitiba on Thursday night. The Mexican club had seven regular-team players missing from the line-up, including five who are playing with the national team in the Confederations Cup in Germany. The return leg will be played next Thursday at Guadalajara. First semi appearance This was the first time either Atletico Paranaense or Chivas of Guadalajara had played in a Copa Libertadores semi-final. Paranaense began well and when Aloisio latched onto a well-directed Jan Carlos cross in the 22nd minute, the home team found itself with the game's opening goal. Ten minutes later, Paranaense goalkeeper Diego was forced to make a dramatic save after central defender Francisco Palencia curled a lovely strike towards the top right of the goal. Lead doubled A minute from half-time, Paranaense doubled the lead when Fernandinho's free kick from outside the area beat Guadalajara goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera and found the back of the net. In the second half, Guadalajara made tentative steps towards reducing the deficit. Hector Reynoso's reverse header on 77 minutes almost yielded the desired result. But their hopes of a comeback were dashed less than 60 seconds later by the individual brilliance of Fabricio, who ran down from centre-field and thumped an outstanding left-foot strike past Alavera from 25 metres out. (AP)