Copa Sudamericana kicks off with high drama
There was drama aplenty as the Copa Sudamericana kicked off in South America, with four teams putting themselves into the group stages from the first round, including 10-man Palestino.
The club, founded by Palestinians in Santiago, Chile, in 1920, was leading 1-0 at Universidad Catolica when it was reduced to 10 men after Julian Rodrigo Fernandez was shown a straight red card.
Then two minutes from time, Fernando Zampedri equalised for the hosts, sending the match to a penalty shootout.
But Palestino held its nerve and won the shootout 5-4 to progress.
Another dramatic shootout saw Cienciano get through its first-round tie against ADT when it looked like never making it out of the first round.
ADT went ahead in the 67th minute of a dour affair on 67 minutes and held that lead until the second minute of stoppage-time, when an own goal from Gu-Rum Choi handed the visitors a second chance in the shootout, levelling the score ata 1-1 after the regulation 90 minutes.
Cienciano blinked first in the shootout when Carlos Garces saw the team's first kick saved, but a save from Juan Cruz Bolado at 4-3 in the shootout gave the visitors another chance to get back.
Bolado then took over completely, saving ADT's seventh attempt before stepping up to bury the winner as Cienciano won the shootout 6-5.
Things were slightly more straghtforward in the other two matches, Sportivo Luqueno beating Sportivo Ameliano 2-0 and Nacional Potosi sealing its path through to the group stage with a 1-0 win at Universitario.
