Away teams take advantage

Venezuelan side Mineros of Guyana caused an upset in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana first round tie after beating Colombian side La Equidad 1-0 away from home on Thursday. Alejandro Guerra netted what would prove to be the only goal of the game after 25 minutes following a good team move. Mineros were left holding on in the closing stages after seeing midfielder Jorge Alberto Rojas sent off late on, but they did enough to claim the victory at the Metropolitano stadium of Bogota. Guerra said: "We all made a huge effort to get this important result, but nothing is decided yet. We still have to play 90 minutes at home and we can't think this is over." He added: "This squad is very humble. If we are focused in every minute of every game we can fight for important things in this competition." Another team that recorded a valuable away victory were Liga de Loja of Ecuador, who defeated Monagas 2-0 in Venezuela thanks to a brace from Fabio Renato. The Brazilian forward opened the scoring in the 36th minute from the penalty spot and doubled his tally for the night with a cross-shot in the second half. In Ayacuchoy, Paraguayan goalkeeper Mario Villasanti produced a fine performance to help Inti Gas of Peru record a goalless home draw with Colombian side Millonarios. Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Chilean giants Universidad Catolica earned a 1-1 first leg draw away to Blooming of Bolivia. Colombian striker Alvaro Ramos opened the scoring for the visitors on the hour, but 60 seconds later midfielder Limbert Mendez drew Blooming level. From : Fifa