Quito (Ecuador) July 8 (IANS): Ecuador's Independiente del Valle recovered from a goal down to secure a 2-1 victory over Boca Juniors in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores football semi-final here.

Pablo Perez opened the scoring for the Argentine side at Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa on Thursday, when he ran onto a Fernando Zuqui through ball and rifled a low finish past goalkeeper Librado Azcona, reports Xinhua.

It took until after the hour mark for the hosts to reply through Bryan Cabezas, who finished coolly after Christian Nunez floated a diagonal pass over Boca's defence.

Jose Angulo then put Independiente ahead by allowing a Mario Rizotto pass to roll between his legs before turning smarty and lashing a shot past Agustin Orion.

Independiente are aiming for a berth in their first Copa Libertadores final while Boca have won South America's top club competition six times.

The return fixture will be played at Boca's Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires next Thursday.