Racing beat Vasco in Copa Libertadores

Buenos Aires, April 20 (IANS) Argentina's Racing Club de Avellaneda beat Brazil's Vasco da Gama 4-0 to lead Group E of the Copa Libertadores football tournament.

Ricardo Centurion, Lautaro Martinez, Matias Zaracho and Lisandro Lopez each scored a goal for their team on Thursday night, helping Racing seal victory and lead Group E with seven points, while Vasco da Gama fell to the bottom, reports EFE news agency.

The Argentine team performed well throughout the match, except for Lisandro Lopez who managed to sink a goal only in his third penalty kick after failing in two other previous penalties.

In the 10th minute, the first chance came for the Argentine team with a penalty kick given to Lopez, the most experienced player of Racing, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Martin Silva.

However, in the 32nd minute, the first point finally appeared on the scoreboard with an impressive goal of Ricardo Centurion, whose shot slipped into the top right corner of the Brazilian goal.

Six minutes later, Silva conceded another goal, shot by young rising star Lautaro Martinez.

Before the end of the first half, Lisandro Lopez was given another penalty kick, but again the Brazilian goalkeeper managed to block the experienced striker.

In the beginning of the second half, in the 52nd minute, Matias Zaracho sealed the third goal for the Argentine team.

The fourth goal came in the 60th minute when the referee of the match, Paraguayan Ulises Mereles, gave a penalty kick to Racing Club. Again, Lisandro Lopez took the challenge again and this time managed to clinch the final goal for Racing.

After this match, Vasco da Gama and Club Racing will meet again on April 26 in Rio de Janeiro for the fourth round of Group E, which also includes Club Universidad de Chile and Cruzeiro Esporte Clube from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.