Nacional of Montevideo picked up a vital 1-0 victory over Coronel Bolognesi of Peru with a first half strike from Bruno Fornaroli.

Nacional, who lost 2-1 against Cienciano of Peru last week, started strongly, piling heavy pressure on Bolognesi as early as from the first minute.

The 41-time Uruguayan champions looked very solid in the midfield, with the good work of Oscar Morales crucial, as he led his team going forward.

In the ninth minute Bruno Fornaroli put Nacional ahead with an opportunist strike, beating the Bolognesi goalkeeper Diego Penny, who failed to get a grip on a loose ball in the area.

But after going behind, the Peruvians piled heavy pressure on Nacional. Although they created a number of clear goal scoring opportunities, they failed to capitalize, as Alexis Viera made a number of fine saves.

'Ojota' Morales looked very lively, and tried to test the Bolognesi goalkeeper from a long distance, but his effort flew over the crossbar.

After the half time break Bolognesi pushed forward in an attempt to catch Nacional by surprise, but the Uruguayans stood extremely firm in defense.

In the 55th minute Nacional could have doubled their lead with a brilliant attacking move, but Martin Liguera couldn't connect with the ball when all that was required was a tap-in.

After that incident the Peruvians seemed to liven up and had two clear opportunities to equalise, first a header and then an overhead kick.

In the 85th minute Bolognesi were awarded a penalty for a hand ball in the area, but Viera saved the spot kick, and although Junior Ross scored the rebound, the penalty had to be retaken because the goalkeeper came off his line.

Ross stepped up for the retake, and Viera saved his effort once again, to the cheers of the Nacional squad.

Nacional held on and picked up a vital victory that will be very important as they aim to reach the knockout phase of the competition.