Tigre's midfielder Mateo Retegui (center) and Academia Puerto Cabello's defenders Joel Caceres (right) and Carlos Rivero (left) vie for the ball during the Copa Sudamericana group stage first leg soccer match between Argentina's Tigres and Venezuela's Academia Puerto Cabello at the Sports Center Misael Delgado stadium in Valencia, Carabobo state, Venezuela, on May 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

VALENCIA, Venezuela - Argentina's Tigre secured its second consecutive Copa Sudamericana victory on Wednesday with a 3-0 rout of Venezuelan side Puerto Cabello.

Mateo Retegui opened the scoring by converting a penalty before Lucas Menossi and Lucas Blondel added second-half goals at Estadio Misael Delgado in the Venezuelan city of Valencia.

The result leaves Tigre second in Group D with six points from three outings while Puerto Cabello is last, having yet to pick up a point.

Tigre's defender Lucas Blondel (center) celebrates with his teammate forward Javier Obando after scoring his team's third goal during the Copa Sudamericana group stage first leg soccer match between Venezuela's Academia Puerto Cabello and Argentina's Tigre, at the Misael Delgado stadium in Valencia, Venezuela, on May 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

In other Copa Sudamericana fixtures on Wednesday, America Mineiro drew 1-1 at Millonarios, Guarani was held to a 1-1 home draw by Emelec and San Lorenzo drew 0-0 at Palestino.

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The winner of the Copa Sudamericana - South America's equivalent of the Europa League - will earn an automatic berth in next year's Copa Libertadores.