Deyverson double gives Atletico upper hand over River Plate

Brazil's Atletico Mineiro took a huge step towards the final of the Copa Libertadores with a 3-0 win over Argentina's River Plate on Tuesday.

Striker Deyverson struck twice and Paulinho added the third as the 2013 champions gave themselves a comfortable cushion ahead of next week's return game at the Estadio Monumental.

Deyverson was a handful all night for the River defense, having thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute, but his opportunist finish was ruled out for offside.

But 14 minutes later, the target man with the bleached blond hair struck the first blow – a long ball towards Hulk that caused chaos in the River back line, and Deyverson pounced on the loose ball to coolly round Franco Armani before slotting into the empty net.

Four-times Libertadores winners River were struggling to get a foothold in the game, but Facundo Colidio offered a reminder of his quality, cutting in from the right and curling a left-foot shot just wide of the post.

But Deyverson struck again in the 70th minute, his perfectly timed diagonal run allowing him to collect a superb defense –splitting a pass from Guilherme Arana to provide another clinical finish.

The killer blow came four minutes later when River's defense was caught out by a quick-throw to Deyverson, who showed great awareness to slip the ball inside to Paulinho, who fired home, helped by a slight deflection.

Wednesday's other semifinal sees Brazil’s Botafogo host Uruguay's Penarol.