Cienciano of Peru edged Nacional of Uruguay 2-1 in both teams' first group match of the 2008 Copa Libertadores in the altitude of Cusco.

Cienciano, who reached the group stage of the competition after beating Wanderers of Uruguay 1-0 on aggregate, started very strongly, piling heavy pressure on the Nacional goal.

But after the first 15 minutes, the Uruguayans dominated proceedings and looked very strong when moving forward, to the point that Cienciano resorted to playing almost entirely through counterattacks.

Right before the half time break Nacional were reduced to ten men, when Adriano Romero received a second yellow card.

This deeply affected Nacional, as after the break they looked extremely sluggish, as Cienciano took full control.

In the 54th minute the Peruvians went ahead, with a well taken goal from Gustavo Vasallo, who tapped in from close range after a cross from the right wing.

Nacional could have scored an equalizer minutes later, but a smart Richard Morales went just wide.

Vasallo doubled Cienciano's lead in the 68th minute when he connected to a well-timed cross with a powerful header that caught Nacional goalkeeper Alexis Viera off guard.

In the 89th minute Mauricio Victorino pulled a goal back for Nacional with a sensational free kick that went into the top left hand corner of Juan Flores' goal.