Vegetti Sends Junior - Cerro to 1-0 Exit in Cartagena

Junior - Cerro ended with Junior de Barranquilla out of the Copa Libertadores after Pablo Vegetti struck in the 13th minute and Cerro Porteño held the 1-0 lead to the finish on Thursday in Cartagena. The loss left Junior with no path back in Group F after four rounds.

Vegetti Punishes Junior Early

Vegetti scored the only goal with a volley from outside the area, and Mauro Silveira was beaten by the shot. Junior later celebrated a goal that was ruled out for offside, but the early strike stood and kept Cerro Porteño in control.

The match was played at the Jaime Morón stadium, where the pressure stayed high through a tense second half. Smoke from flares lit by Junior fans forced the stoppage, and the stands kept pushing the team with chants of "movete, Junior, movete" while the score remained unchanged.

Group F Turns Against Junior

Junior finished the fourth round with 1 point out of 12 possible in Group F, leaving the Colombian club at the bottom of the table. Palmeiras added to the strain with a 2-0 win over Sporting Cristal in Lima, where José Manuel López and Ramón Sosa scored, and that result made Palmeiras the lone leader with 10 points.

Sporting Cristal stayed one point behind Cerro Porteño, tightening the race above Junior while the Colombian side was left with nothing from the result in Cartagena. The table now reflects a simple fact for Junior: one point from four matches was not enough to stay alive in the group.