Penarol, Nacional suffer defeat

Uruguayan giants Penarol and Nacional both suffered defeats in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday. Last year's runner-up Penarol were beaten 1-0 by Godoy Cruz of Argentina, while Nacional were defeated 2-1 by Libertad. Penarol's defeat had now been on the cards at the start of their clash, with Maximiliano Perez and Luis Aguiar both going close early on. Aguiar then hit the post and Perez almost found the net, before Godoy took the lead against the odds six minutes after the break. Ariel Rojas crossed for Diego Villar and he did the rest, beating Fabian Carini who had not had a shot to deal with until that point. Penarol lost their way after that and Alejandro Gonzalez was dismissed for a second yellow card. In Montevideo, Nacional also suffered a shock defeat. Like Penarol, they started the better, and took the lead in the 23rd minute when Marcos Sebastian Aguirre scored. They should have gone on to wrap things up after that, but Libertad had other ideas. With 58 minutes gone, a counter-attack resulted in Miguel Samudio breaking through and he did the rest. Then, just five minutes later, Victor Ayala's shot was deflected in by Mauro Caballero to complete the turnaround. "We lacked the experience to keep the advantage we had," Nacional's coach Marcelo Gallardo said. "We lost a ball in defence, they equalised and very soon we were behind. It was a weird match. We tried to score again but they played defence very well at the end." Libertad - who also won last week- are the single leaders of Group Five with six points.