Brazil's Paranaense eliminates Caracas, moves to quarters

Brazil's Atletico Paranaense beat Venezuelan Caracas 2-1 in Curitiba to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana, in which they will face the winner of the match between its compatriot teams Bahia and Botafogo.

Paranaense, which played Wednesday night's match with the advantage of its 2-0 victory in Venezuela, was first to open the scoring thanks to a goal by Marcelo Cirino in the 30th minute, reports Efe news.

Caracas's Robert Garces scored an equalizer in the 48th, but the Brazilian team recuperated its lead nine minutes later with a goal from Renan Lodi, crashing the hopes of the Venezuelan team.

The match heated up in the final minutes, which led to a series of fouls and yellow cards, mostly for the Venezuelans.

Coach Tiago Nunes now needs to prepare his team for a quarterfinal round against the winner of the match between Bahia and Botafogo, the first of which currently enjoys a 2-1 first-leg advantage over the latter.

--IANS

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