Millonarios suffered again due to defensive problems. They were ten minutes away from having saved a point against América de Cali, which, with its 2-1 victory this Friday at the Pascual Guerrero, is increasingly the leader and practically assured its classification to the semi-finals of the League, with 29 points.
According to the criteria of
At times, especially in the first minutes, Alberto Gamero’s team repeated the horrors that almost cost them a win on Tuesday against Bucaramanga in the Colombia Cup. But then, the team settled on the court until they played head to head.
The match also had a couple of refereeing controversies on behalf of the center Bismarks Santiago. The first, a stomp by Jorge Arias that could have been a red card, but in which the judge was right, because the point of contact was not high and was not yet in the direction of goal.
In the second he did fail: a penalty for an alleged foul by Andrés Llinás against Rodrigo Holgado.The defender slept in the action, but the shirt grab was not intense enough to be a foul. Santiago considered the opposite and Duván Vergara took the opportunity to beat goalkeeper Diego Novoa, who guessed where the ball was going, but failed to reach it. The goal was in the 39th minute and with that advantage, those led by Jorge ‘Polilla’ da Silva led at half-time.
Millonarios’ reaction in the second stage was good and so, with a very enthusiastic Juan José Ramírez, and with a very good work by Daniel Mantilla opening the game on the left wing, they managed to score the partial tie, at 12 minutes. Leonardo Castro got a rebound after a good center from Mantilla and a bad rejection by the American defense.
But Millonarios, as has been repeated on many occasions this semester, scored a goal and retreated. He got very far back and América pushed him until the mistake that cost him the game appeared:
América took advantage of a late return from Danovis Banguero to throw a ball to the right towards Holgado, who anticipated Jorge Arias and threw a cross back. A brand-name midfielder, Franco Leys, arrived there to fall into the ‘9’ position and anticipate Llinás, who did not have a good night. His shot assured victory and, practically, qualification for América.
“I haven’t scored a goal in a long time, this is the second of my career. You have to enjoy it a lot because you don’t know when the next one will come,” Leys told Win Sports. “We have our objectives clearer, the first is to be in the eight, then focus on the Cup, which is a goal for the club,” he added.
To complete the terrible week for Millonarios, the VAR notified Santiago that Leonardo Castro had scored a goal worthy of a red card, unintentionally, but with the necessary strength to justify his departure. Gamero’s men are still among the eight, but once again their football stagnated.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
More Sports news
#América #punished #defensive #errors #Millonarios #practically #secured #place #semifinal #home #runs #League