Boca Juniors dismantled Deportivo Recoleta 4-0 at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco in their Sudamericana Cup Round of 16 tie on Wednesday evening. The visitors took control early and never looked back, advancing to the quarter-finals with a performance that left little doubt about who deserved to progress. And here's the thing — this wasn't even a contest after the first twenty minutes.
Santiago Ascacibar opened the scoring in the 30th minute, giving Boca a deserved lead before the break. To be fair, Deportivo had the better of possession at 52 per cent, but their shots lacked conviction. Villa doubled the advantage just before half-time with a clinical finish in the 43rd minute, and by then the match had effectively been decided.
Miguel Merentiel restored the two-goal cushion in the 52nd minute, and his subsequent substitution in the 57th minute felt like a message. The fourth goal came through A. Velasco in the 77th minute, capping a comprehensive display. Deportivo made three changes at the restart in a desperate attempt to find foothold, but the visitors had already closed the game out.
The statistics told the story clearly. Boca registered 11 shots on target against Deportivo's 4, while their expected goals figure of 2.8 dwarfed the hosts' 0.96. Deportivo created three big chances but could not convert any, whereas Boca turned four opportunities into goals. It was efficiency over volume, and that is what separates the two sides in this tie.
The result means Boca Juniors have one foot in the next round, while Deportivo Recoleta remain top of their league table with eight points from six games — a record now shadowed by this heavy defeat. We had backed the visitors with 54 per cent confidence before kick-off, and the outcome vindicated that assessment without any flourish required.