Quito (AFP) – Ecuadoran minnows Independiente del Valle upset Argentinian giants Boca Juniors 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final clash.
Independiente, playing in the semi-finals of South America’s most prestigious club competition for the first time, on Thursday came from a goal down to give themselves a fighting chance of reaching the final in next week’s return leg in Buenos Aires.
A hard-fought game suffered an interruption of around 10 minutes in the first half after a floodlight failure.
Boca, with out-of-favour Argentina international Carlos Tevez leading their attack, took the lead in the 13th minute when Pablo Perez fired a low shot into the bottom right hand corner.
But Independiente levelled in the 62nd minute when Christian Nunez’s cross found Bryan Cabesas Segura in space on the far side of the penalty area.
Segura took a touch and drilled in a low shot to make it 1-1.
Boca then paid the price for failing to properly clear their lines as Independiente pressed for a winner in the 76th minute.
A poor clearance saw the ball fed to Jose Angulo, who eluded his marker with a clever flick before spinning away to finish past Augustin Orion in the Boca goal.
The winner of the semi-final will play either Sao Paulo or Atletico Nacional in the final.
