After a half hour of overtime, the River Plate rise triumphant over the Boca Juniors, bringing a close to a tense second leg of the 58 edition of the Copa Libertadores in Madrid Sunday with a final score of 3-1 or 5-3 aggregate.
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With only seconds left in the game, Boca sent its whole team pummelling downfield, including goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, in a mad attempt to take the final goal.
However, a tragic fumble delivered the ball right to the feet of River Plate’s Midfielder-Offense Gonzalez Nicolas Martinez who carried the ball straight back and into the Boca goal to the ringing of thousands of screaming fans.
Despite Boca’s short lead at halftime, thanks to Striker Dario Benedetto, putting them 3-2 on aggregate after the first leg of the final ended in a 2-2 draw at Boca’s Bombonera ground.
However, about an hour into the second half, Lucas Pratto- a former Boca striker- leveled the score at 1-1 for River Plate, taking the teams into thirty-minute over time. Another beautiful goal was scored by Colombian midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero for River Plate before the tense finish 15 minutes later.
The South American football governing body, the CONMEBOL, chose to postpone the final match twice before opting to host the game in Madrid after River Plate fans arranged a bus attack against the Boca team, leaving several players injured.
The game kicked off without a hint of crowd trouble amid the biggest security operation ever mounted for a football match in Spain.