Deportivo Quito beats U. de Chile in Libertadores

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Deportivo Quito overcame a first-half red card to win 4-1 at home over Universidad de Chile in Thursday's first leg of their Copa Libertadores round-of-16 match.

Striker Matias Alustiza scored a goal in each half for the Ecuadorean club, which put itself in a strong position to advance to the quarterfinals.

Luis Checa and Fidel Martinez also scored for Deportivo, which got two goals while playing a man down. Matias Rodriguez scored for Universidad, which also had a player sent off, plus Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli.

The second leg in Santiago will be played next week.

Alustiza opened the scoring for the home team with hard shot into the top of the net from inside the area in the 31st, but the hosts were almost immediately reduced to ten men when midfielder Benito Gonzalez received his second yellow card for a foul on Charles Aranguiz.

Universidad's Argentine defender Rodriguez equalized in the 37th after dribbling past a defender and firing a well-placed shot into the far corner, which went in off the post.

With scores level and up a man, the match appeared to be turning the way of the visitors, but Checa put Deportivo back in front with a header in first-half stoppage time.

Alustiza increased the lead following a counter-attack in the 57th, clearing a defender before finding the net from inside the area.

Universidad defender Osvaldo Gonzalez received his second yellow card in the 60th minute, putting both teams on ten men.

Martinez sealed the victory after a long run in the 83rd, firing a powerful shot into the left-upper corner of the net.

Thursday's game was the last of the round-of-16 first-leg games, with Argentina's Velez Sarsfield the only away team to win, beating Nacional de Medellin 1-0 on Tuesday in Colombia.

Defending champion Santos of Brazil lost 2-1 to Bolivar in the high-altitude of La Paz a week ago, while six-time champion Boca Juniors of Argentina got a last-minute win over Union Espanola at home on Wednesday.

Internacional was held 0-0 by Brazilian rival Fluminense, as was Ecuador's Emelec by Brazilian champion Corinthians, while Argentina's Cruz Azul could only draw 1-1 at home against Paraguay's Libertad. Vasco da Gama of Brazil beat Lanus of Argentina 2-1 in Rio de Janeiro.