ASUNCION, May 24 (silubaba) -- Artur Guimaraes scored twice as Palmeiras romped to a 3-0 away victory over Cerro Porteno in their Copa Libertadores Group C duel on Wednesday.
Cerro Porteno suffered a major blow in the 15th minute when Gabriel Baez was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Guimaraes.
The incident fired the Palmeiras forward into action and he put his side ahead in the 25th minute by curling a first time effort from the edge of the box into the top left corner after a counterattack.
Artur doubled the advantage just before the hour by tapping in at the far post after Rony's cross from the left side of the penalty area.
Having set up his team's first two goals, Rony put himself on the scoresheet in the 68th minute when he rounded goalkeeper Jean Fernandes before casually rolling the ball into an empty net.
Palmeiras were also reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute as Richard Rios received a straight red card for violent conduct.
But it had no bearing on the result as the Brazilian giants clinched their third straight victory to all but guarantee their place in the competition's knockout phase. Cerro Porteno are last in the group with three points from four outings.
In other Copa Libertadores fixtures on Wednesday, Liverpool Montevideo won 1-0 at home to Independiente del Valle, Deportivo Pereira secured a 1-0 home win over Boca Juniors, Flamengo drew 1-1 at Nublense, Argentinos Juniors were held to a goalless home draw by Corinthians and Atletico Nacional won 1-0 at Melgar. ■
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