Soccer-Santos Laguna heap misery on Penarol on Libertadores Cup

March 26 (Reuters) - Five-time champions Penarol's dismal Libertadores Cup campaign continued when they were thumped 4-1 by rampant Mexicans Santos Laguna, leaving the Uruguayans on the brink of group stage elimination. Colombian forward Darwin Quintero scored twice as Group Eight leaders Santos made sure of a place in the knockout stage with a match to spare while their opponents remain stuck on four points, two behind Arsenal of Argentina, who also have a game in hand. Penarol got off to a perfect start at the Corona stadium in the desert city of Torreon when Javier Toledo headed in from close range in the first minute after a mix-up in the home defence, who also had a player on the ground injured. Quintero replied in the ninth minute when he got in front of the Penarol defence and cleverly volleyed home a long ball into the area. Santos, with 13 points from five games, ran riot in the second half as they repeatedly exposed Penarol's flat back four. Quintero floated a pass over the Penarol defence to set Javier Orozco clear and he sidefooted past Juan Castillo in the 59th minute. Quintero added a third in the 78th minute after running onto a another ball over the top of the defence and fellow Colombian Andres Renteria completed the scoring one minute later after he also got away. Third-placed Penarol were left to face a 20-hour trip home with stops in Mexico City and Lima. Venezuelans Zamora kept up their hopes of qualifying from Group Four with a 2-0 win over Paraguay's Nacional in Tuesday's other game. Juan Falcon broke clear to put Zamora ahead from a narrow angle in the 58th minute and John Jairo Murillo added another eight minutes later, leaving the hosts second with seven points and Nacional third with five. (Reporting by Brian Homewood)