Millonarios pressed the accelerator for 20 minutes and that was enough to resolve the first leg of the Colombia Cup quarterfinals. in which they defeated an Alianza Petrolera that, since its formation, showed that its priorities were in another tournament, the League.
César Torres, the coach of the visiting team, has his head set on qualifying at eight, reclassifying and avoiding relegation. And that’s why, this Thursday in El Campín, he ended up saving almost the entire starting team.
That factor, plus the fact of playing with a line of five defenders, made it seem like Alianza was going to think about defending itself in Bogotá. The first minutes showed a team that wanted to please, but did not have depth.
Millonarios was in the same group, with a team much closer to the starter, except for the absences of Andrés Llinás and Ómar Bertel. It was difficult for him to get there. But in a single play, in his first dangerous approach to Carlos Mosquera’s goal, the champion went ahead. He did it thanks to a luxury from Leonardo Castro, who finished with a backheel, at 27 minutes, after a center from Daniel Ruiz. Castro had an emotional dedication to his wife’s grandmother, who died in recent days.
That change of pace in Millonarios’ game helped him score one more goal and he could have continued on. He reached him for a second goal, at 41, in a play very similar to the first, but with other protagonists: the center was from winger Samuel Asprilla and the shot, from Édgar Guerra, who did not let it fall and placed it close to the stick of Mosquera’s right hand.
Already with two goals ahead, Gamero tried the formula, again, of the three creatives: he sacrificed a full-back, Sander Navarro, and brought together Ruiz, Mackalister Silva and Daniel Cataño. But in those first minutes, there were no great scoring options. Rather, Alianza timidly approached the discount, but without success.
Gamero gave up on the idea of the three ’10’ and took out the oldest of all, Silva, to send Beckham Castro to the field. And Millonarios began to find space to attack, especially on the left, where Asprilla had his best minutes as a blue player.
The third was close, especially in a double play that ended with Castro hitting the post and a poor resolution by Cataño on the rebound. And the expulsion of Alfonso Simarra for a double warning, in the 78th minute, ended the enthusiasm of the visitors, who never set foot on the southern half of the El Campín field again.
Millionaires, as has not happened in a while, will have a week of rest. The League match against Unión Magdalena was postponed to October 18. The next time I step on a field it will be in Barrancabermeja, to defend this 2-0 that seemed short, thinking about the difficulty of the square. It was the only local team that won in the first leg of the quarterfinals: Santa Fe did not (0-0 with Pereira), Águilas (National beat them 0-3) or Cúcuta (lost 0-1 with Medellín).
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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