Boca Juniors, River play draw in 1st leg

Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors and River Plate battled to a 2-2 draw in the first match of their two-game Copa Libertadores final series.

Ramon Abila and Dario Benedetto scored for Boca, while Lucas Pratto and Carlos Izquierdoz — the latter on an own goal — scored for the visitors on Sunday.

Abila scored in the 34th minute at La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires to get Boca - the home squad, coached by Guillermo Barros Schelotto - on the board with a powerful shot that was deflected by goaltender Franco Armani right back to the shooter, who fired again, this time for the 1-0.

However, just a few moments later River’s Lucas Pratto received the ball deep in the area and managed to fire the tying shot into the net.

In the final minute of first-half play, a free kick by Boca’s Sebastian Villa set up a header into the top left corner of the net by Dario Benedetto to put their squad over the top going into the break. In the 61st minute, it was Boca defender Izquierdoz who knocked a misguided header into his own net, thus handing Matias Biscay’s squad its second equalizer, and there the score remained through the final whistle.

The second leg of the series will be played at River Plate’s Monumental Stadium on November 24. IANS

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