Copa Libertadores wrap: Nacional continue strong start

22 February 2012 06:04

Atletico Nacional continued Penarol's poor start to the Copa Libertadores group stage, thumping the Uruguayan club 4-0 on Tuesday.

Jherson Cordoba and Dorlan Pabon each scored twice for Atletico Nacional who are top of Group Eight after two wins from two games.

The current Colombian league champions took the lead in Montevideo after just nine minutes when midfielder Macnelly Torres passed to Cordoba who shot first time from the left-hand side of the box into the opposite corner of the goal.

Penarol's goalkeeper Fabian Carini would have been disappointed with the second goal of the match, with Cordoba shooting between the former Uruguay national player's legs to score in the 50th minute.

The home side looked tired as the second half continued, with the visitors' speed the key to the last two goals of the game.

In the 64th minute, Pabon sprinted away from Penarol's defence to finish well and 14 minutes later left-back Farid Diaz created Pabon's second after flying past his opponent before crossing to the 24-year-old striker, who struck a powerful shot past Carini.

The humiliating result leaves the 37-time Uruguayan league champions bottom of Group Eight with no points from two matches.

In Bolivia, Chile's Union Espanola scored three goals in the second half to overcome Bolivar 3-1.

In Argentina, Arsenal sent Zamora back to Venezuela without any points, beating the visitors 3-0.

And Cruz Azul maintained their unbeaten start to the group stage with an easy 4-0 victory over Deportivo Tachira.