Gremio beat Lanus to win third Copa Libertadores title

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BUENOS AIRES - Luan and Fernandinho scored first-half goals as Brazil's Gremio clinched their third Copa Libertadores title with a 2-1 victory over Argentine side Lanus here on Wednesday.

Brazil's Gremio player Pedro Geromel holds the Copa Libertadores 2017 trophy upon arrival at the Arena do Gremio stadium after winning the championship following the defeat over Argentina's Lanus, on November 30, 2017, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. [Photo/VCG]

The result at Estadio Ciudad de Lanus in greater Buenos Aires earned Gremio a 3-1 aggregate victory in the final after their 1-0 home win in last week's first leg.

Gremio, also Copa Libertadores champions in 1983 and 1995, are now tied with Santos and Sao Paulo as the most successful Brazilian teams in South American football's top club competition.

The triumph earned the team from Porto Alegre a berth in next month's FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

"We had our share of critics but we kept our heads and got our reward," said Luan, who was named player of the tournament.

"This group is fantastic and deserves this. I want to thank everybody, especially my family for always supporting me."

Veteran winger Fernandinho opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he capitalized on an errant Lanus pass and ran half the length of the pitch before lashing a powerful left-footed shot past Esteban Andrada.

Maximiliano Velazquez then forced a smart save from Marcelo Grohe with a shot from distance, but it was one of few times that the hosts threatened to score.

Luan added his team's second goal on the stroke of halftime when he danced between three defenders before deftly chipping over Andrada.

Lanus emerged from halftime with renewed vigor. Jose Sand narrowly missed with a long-range attempt but made no mistake minutes later when he converted a penalty after Lautaro Acosta was tripped by midfielder Jailson.

Luan almost replicated his earlier strike by lofting over the Andrada again but his shot rolled just wide of the post.