Union, Cruz maintain perfect starts

Cruz Azul and Union Espanola each recorded their second win in the Copa Libertadores group stage when they saw off Venezuelan opposition on Tuesday. Mexican side Cruz Azul hammered Deportivo Tachira 4-0 while Chilean side Union enjoyed a 3-1 success against Bolivar in Venezuela. Adrian Cortes' 18th-minute penalty set Cruz Azul on their way to victory in Group Six. Edixon Perea made the game safe (54) before Javier Orozco Penuelas and Emanuel Villa gave the scoreline a more emphatic look. In Group Three, Bolivar took a first-minute lead against Union through Edemir Rodriguez but were pegged back by two goals in five minutes from Mauro Diaz (62) and Emanuel Herrera (66). Substitute Jean Paul Pineda scored a late third for the visitors. Arsenal Sarandi bounced back from their opening Group Four loss to Fluminense by beating Zamora, ensuring a hat-trick of Venezuelan defeats tonight. The result was barely in doubt once Jorge Ortiz and Carlos Carbonero had scored in the opening quarter-hour, and Luciano Leguizamon rounded off the scoring before half-time. Finally, Colombian giants Nacional claimed a tremendous 4-0 win in their trip to Uruguay's Penarol in Group Eight. Two goals from Jherson Cordoba and a brace more from Dorlan Pabon helped Nacional win in surprisingly comfortable fashion. Cordoba opened the scoring in the eighth minute after being set up by Macnelly Torres and doubled the gap four minutes after the interval after Pabon headed down Luis Mosquera's cross. Pabon struck twice on the counter-attack to consolidate the win.