Sao Paulo beat Tigres 4-0

Sao Paulo:

Brazilian side Sao Paulo beat Tigres of Mexico 4-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scored twice, but also missed a penalty for the hosts who played against a Mexican side reduced to ten men for over 30 minutes of the match. A packed crowd of 80 thousand were in the Norumbi Stadium for this crucial match. It took well over ten minutes before the first real shot on goal came about - Jesus De Nigris of Tigres however wasting the chance by shooting way over the crossbar. The home were looking dangerous and had their best opportunity around the half hour mark. But somehow both Sao Paulo players in the area failed to get on the end of the cross and the ball sailed away to safety. Moments later however the home crowd were in an ecstatic mood as their team took the lead, the goal coming from a freekick by their goalkeeper, Rogerio Ceni, his third of this campaign. Sao Paulo dominates Sao Paulo now began to dominate possession and soon doubled their advantage courtesy of a great strike from Luizao. 2-0 ahead at the break, the hosts were looking to build on their advantage in the second half, and they did just that. Goal three came after 58 minutes. Tigres had defender Paulo da Silva sent off for a foul on Luizao, and from the resulting freekick, Ceni was able to double his tally for the match. Home side victory The home side made the most of their extra player to score again just three minutes later. This time it was Souza, making it 4-0 to the home side. And Ceni could have made it five, and recorded a memorable hat-trick, if he had converted a penalty awarded in the 70th minute after Diego Tardelli was tripped in the area. Somehow however the goalkeeper fired over the crossbar, thereby missing a chance to emulate Paraguay goalie Jose Luis Chilavert who scored a hat-trick as Velez Sarsfield beat Ferro Carril Oeste 6-1 in the Argentine championship in 1999. Sao Paulo still came away however with an emphatic win and look firm favourites to progress to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores following the second leg in Monterrey on June 15. (AP)

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