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Former Paraguay striker Jose Cardozo made a losing start as Olimpia coach and crowd violence marred Sportivo Luqueno's home loss to Cerro Porteno in Paraguay at the weekend.

Classic Uruguayan rivals Nacional and Penarol geared up for next Sunday's big Montevideo derby with victories, while Alianza Lima edged closer to a Peruvian championship final against traditional rivals Universitario.

PARAGUAY

Sportivo Luqueno fans hurled stones at police, who replied by firing rubber bullets during fighting inside and outside the ground. Some people were injured and arrests were made after their 2-1 defeat by Cerro Porteno, media reported.

The victory helped title holders Cerro to recover from their semi-final elimination in the Copa Sudamericana by Brazil's Fluminense in midweek but they are 12 points behind leaders Nacional in sixth place.

Nacional retained their three-point lead over Libertad and Rubio Nu with a 3-0 win over Sol de America.

Libertad, who have a game in hand, beat Olimpia 1-0 to almost end their title hopes in 38-year-old former Paraguay striker Jose Cardozo's first match back in charge as coach following a previous short stint in 2006-07. He took over on Saturday from Carlos Kiese, who quit on Friday over differences with the club's directors.

Rubio Nu's 2-0 victory relegated 2 de Mayo.

URUGUAY

Title holders Nacional beat Danubio 2-0 to open a two-point lead over Liverpool, held 0-0 by Wanderers, in the Apertura championship ahead of next weekend's big Montevideo derby against arch rivals Penarol.

Penarol are third, four points behind the leaders, after ending a run of two defeats with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Fenix.

Former Schalke 04 forward Gustavo Varela opened the scoring after half an hour with a diving header from Nicolas Lodeiro's cross and substitute Diego Vera added a late second.

PERU

Nolberto Solano's Universitario, runaway leaders in Group B, are most likely to meet arch rivals Alianza Lima in the championship final. "U" beat Total Chalaco 3-0 on Sunday. Group A leaders Alianza won 3-1 away against Inti Gas with two goals from striker Wilmer Aguirre and are four points clear of Juan Aurich, who lost 1-0 to Sport Ancash, with two matches to go.

ECUADOR

Deportivo Quito and Deportivo Cuenca will meet in the championship final (first leg November 28, second December 6) after finishing top of their third-phase groups.

Deportivo Quito beat Macara 2-0 with goals from Argentine forwards Franco Niell and Ivan Borghello while Cuenca were held 1-1 by Emelec.

LDU Quito, South American champions last year and 2009 Copa Sudamericana finalists after crushing modest Uruguayan side River Plate 7-0 at home in the second leg of their semi-final last week, meet Emelec in a playoff for another berth in the 2010 Libertadores Cup.

CHILE

Universidad Catolica beat Everton 2-0 in the first leg of their Clausura championship quarter-final.

Ten-man La Serena, who had Argentine forward Sebastian Tagliabue sent off four minutes into the second half, surprised Union Espanola 1-1 away.

La Serena went ahead through Argentine forward Javier Elizondo in the 70th minute before conceding a late equaliser from a penalty converted by Gustavo Canales.

Colo Colo won 2-1 away to Universidad de Concepcion and Santiago Morning beat Audax Italiano 4-2 at home.

The return legs are in midweek.

COLOMBIA

Independiente Medellin striker Jackson Martinez scored in the 2-1 win at Deportivo Pereira in their opening Group A match in the semi-final phase of the Clausura championship but was sent off in the second half.

Martinez, who took his tally 14, put Medellin ahead in the 41st minute but John Lozano equalised before halftime. Martinez was shown the red card in the 52nd minute for a violent foul but two minutes into stoppage time Juan Ortiz scored 10-man Medellin's winner.

Striker Teofilo Gutierrez converted two penalties to give Atletico Junior a 2-0 win over Real Cartagena in the Caribbean "Coast classic", also in group A.

In Group B, Atletico Nacional beat Deportes Tolima 2-1 and Santa Fe won 2-0 at home to Atletico Huila.

VENEZUELA

Leaders Caracas FC lost 1-0 at home to Deportivo Italia in a top-of-the-table clash in the Apertura championship, leaving them ahead of their rivals only on goal difference. The match was played behind closed doors owing to a ban on Caracas for crowd trouble.

Both teams are two points ahead of third-placed Deportivo Tachira, who won 1-0 away to Monagas, with three rounds to go.

Reuters