River Plate draw against Sporting Cristal in the Libertadores By Reuters

BUENOS AIRES, May 26 (Reuters) – River Plate, one of the most popular clubs in South American soccer, drew 1-1 away to Sporting Cristal on Thursday at the end of the fourth day of the Copa Libertadores group stage.

River and Cristal share the last place in Group D with four points, five below the leader Fluminense and two less than the guard The Strongest.

In the match played at the National Stadium of Peru, the Peruvian team opened the scoring in the 63rd minute through a powerful shot by Yoshimar Yotún, after an error made by goalkeeper Franco Armani at the start.

Ten minutes later, Cristal were left with a man down as Rafael Lutiger was sent off in a play that prompted a penalty for River, which goalkeeper Renato Solís then blocked for Colombia’s Miguel Borja.

The draw for the Argentine team came at 84 through Rodrigo Aliendro, after a shot from Esequiel Barco hit the crossbar.

“We leave with a bitter taste, now we have to win both games at home, yes or no,” said Aliendro on television after the draw.

Earlier, for the same group, The Strongest beat Fluminense 1-0 at home at the Hernando Siles stadium in the city of La Paz with a goal from Argentina’s Enrique Triverio after 4 minutes.

“Playing at this kind of height is always almost criminal. Nobody is prepared for this. The teams are at sea level and here it is a different sport,” said coach Fernando Diniz after the defeat at 3,600 meters above sea level. above sea level.

In other matches on Thursday, Internacional de Porto Alegre beat Metropolitanos 2-1 in Group B, while Olimpia of Paraguay beat Patronato de Paraná 2-0 in Group H.

(Reporting by Ramiro Scandolo; Editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)