A simple assignment for Arsenal de Sarandí on Thursday night in their defence of the Copa Sudamericana, and the test was passed at a canter. Having beaten Deportivo Motagua 4-0 in Sarandí in the first leg a couple of weeks ago, Daniel Garnero’s defending champions got through the second with a 2-1 win over the Hondurans in Tegucigalpa.
Jocimar Nascimento gave the hosts an early lead and a faint, distant sliver of hope, but it was extinguished with Arsenal’s first attack as Alejandro Gómez, one of relatively few first-teamers on show, took the ball down and easily beat goalkeeper Morales. Later in the match, one of the players Garnero experimented with, Facundo Coria, was brought down in the box and converted the resultant penalty himself. Aside from a bit of match practice for the likes of Sergio Sena and some of the substitutes, as well as Andrés San Martín, returning from injury, the match didn’t mean an awful lot after the first leg scoreline.
In the next round Arsenal will have a bit more of a challenge: they’ve got Estudiantes.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 