A late brace from Dario Benedetto saw Boca Juniors beat Palmeiras 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final on Wednesday.

The Argentine giants struggled to create chances in front of their home fans at La Bombonera before Benedetto's late heroics.

Benedetto came off the bench to head in a late opener before firing in a tremendous effort from range to seal Boca's success.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's Palmeiras managed to frustrate the hosts for the most part, and Boca – who left Carlos Tevez on the bench – were reduced largely to efforts from distance.

Arguably the best of those came in the 82nd minute, when Lucas Olaza forced a diving save from Weverton with a 30-yard free-kick.

And the resulting corner would lead to the opener, Benedetto – introduced in the 77th minute – heading in Sebastian Villa's delivery.

Benedetto struck again five minutes later, brilliantly turning on the edge of the area before firing into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Boca will carry their two-goal lead to Brazil for the second leg on October 31.