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River Plate and Emelec earn last 16 place in Copa

Zamora’s Oswaldo Perez, right, celebrates with Rodrigo Gomez after scoring during their Copa Sudamericana game against Emelec on Thursday in Guayaquil, Ecuador. PHOTO: AP

Bruno Montelongo scored two minutes from regulation time on Thursday to give Uruguayan club River Plate a 2-1 win over Bolivia’s Blooming and a place in the last 16 of the Copa Sudamericana.

The match was scoreless until the 80th minute, when Jorge Cordoba gave River Plate the lead with a well-timed volley.

Jose Luis Chavez scored an equalizer from a corner in the 86th for Blooming before Montelongo’s winner in the 88th.

In Thursday’s other match, Hernan Peirone scored a last-minute winner for 10-man Emelec of Ecuador in a 2-1 defeat of Venezuelan club Zamora.

Giovanni Perez opened the scoring for Zamora in the 25th minute and the Venezuelan club gained an advantage nine minutes later when Emelec’s Jose Quinonez was sent off.

Emelec rallied in the second half, when Franco Mendoza skipped inside Daniel Valdes to equalize at the near post in the 71st minute.

Peirone scored a breakaway winner as Zamora committed players forward in search of a decisive second goal.

The Copa Sudamericana is South America’s No. 2 club tournament after the Copa Libertadores.

Thursday’s results meant River and Emelec became the ninth and tenth clubs to qualify for the tournament’s last 16, with the remaining preliminary round fixtures next month.

River were awarded a 3-0 win in the first leg in Bolivia after a Blooming supporter ran onto the pitch and attacked River forward Henry Gimenez, causing the match to be abandoned just after the hour mark. River were leading 1-0 at the time.
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