Proving that the Copa Libertadores is truly the chaos aficionado’s tournament of choice, Deportivo Lara (Venezuela) beat Huracan (Argentina) on Thursday in a game that saw new ground broken.
The man at the epicentre was Lara midfielder Bernaldo Manzano, who became the first player in the entire six-decade history of the tournament to score a goal, score an own-goal, provide an assist and get himself sent off all in the space of one match.
Bernaldo Manzano ya es LEYENDA VIVA de la Copa Libertadores: primer jugador con gol, autogol, asistencia y expulsión en un mismo partido. pic.twitter.com/sQqbp0jgfS
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) 4 April 2019
Manzano managed the astounding feat as Lara scraped to a 2-1 home win by opening the scoring (at the right end) with a ninth-minute penalty then laying on his side’s second goal for striker David Centeno to stick away.
The 28-year-old then pulled one back for Huracan on the hour-mark with a crap own-goal before getting himself sent off just five minutes later for a second bookable offence. The highlights are available to watch here if you so wish.
This all came on a mad day for Lara on which they were forced to play two matches due to the Venezuelan FA refusing to cancel their domestic fixture.
They won both…
📅Hoy
🔸Fútbol Venezolano
✔Llaneros 2-3 Dpvo Lara
✔La Guaira 4-0 Zamora🔸Por Copa Libertadores
✔Dpvo Lara🆚Huracán
✔Mineiro🆚Zamora✅Lara y Zamora jugando 2 partidos en un mismo día. La Federación Venezolana no quiso posponer sus partidos del tornero local. pic.twitter.com/JSNOIiQGcz
— PÁJARO PJ 🎤📰 ⚽🎸🐦 (@PajaroPJ) 3 April 2019
South American football truly is the gift that will just not stop giving, whether you want it to or not.