Velez Sarsfield of Argentina and Chile's Universidad Catolica secured first-leg wins in the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday as the final 16 of Latin America's top international club tournament got underway.
Augusto Fernandez hit an early double as Velez cruised to a 3-0 home win over Ecuador's Liga de Quito, which finished with nine men, and Lucas Pratto scored both his team's goals as Catolica posted a surprise 2-1 win at Brazil's Gremio, which also had a man sent off.
The return legs of both fixtures will be played next week.
The opening matches in the rest of the final 16 stage continue Wednesday and Thursday with Once Caldas vs. Cruzeiro, Chiapas vs. Atletico Junior, Estudiantes vs. Cerro Porteno, Santos vs. America, Fluminense vs. Libertad and Penarol vs. Internacional.
Fernandez opened the scoring for Velez against Liga in the eighth minute with a volley at the back post from Santiago Silva's left-wing cross.
The winger doubled his tally with a first time shot after cutting in from the right and finishing Juan Manuel Martinez' pass with a first-time shot just three minutes later.
''Obviously it was a good result to be three goals in front at this stage of the competition, but we played very well in the first half,'' said Fernandez.
Liga, Libertadores champion in 2008, offered little resistance, with striker Hernan Barcos off target with two first-half efforts.
The Ecuadorean club's hopes of getting back in the game were dealt a further blow ten minutes after half time when Luis Bolanos was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle and was sent off.
From the ensuing free kick, the ball was worked wide to Emiliano Papa, who floated a cross that Liga goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez misjudged, allowing Sebastian Dominguez to head the third goal.
Neicer Reasco became the second Liga player to receive a red card in the 69th.
Reduced to nine men, Liga had no answer and now face an uphill task to reach the quarterfinals.
Earlier Tuesday, Argentine striker Pratto scored his first goal for Catolica at Gremio with a low shot from Marcelo Canete's pass following a counterattack in the 29th minute.
Gremio suffered a further setback when striker Borges was shown a red card for elbowing defender David Henriquez six minutes later, but the Brazilian club leveled with a long-range strike from Douglas on the hour.
With Gremio pushing for a home win and leaving gaps in defense, Fernando Meneses found space on the right and sent a cross to the back post for Pratto to head the decisive goal in the 74th.
The win gives give Chilean league champion Catolica a valuable lead ahead of the return leg in Santiago.
The final of Latin America's top international club competition is slated for June. The winner earns a place in the Club World Cup to compete against the other continental champions.
