South American roundup-Crowd violence mars Paraguay game

By Rex Gowar

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - 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.