América had no mercy with the Junior substitutes: they scored and established themselves among the eight

TOAmérica de Cali hit every time Junior gave her the opportunity and won 4-1 against Pascual Guerrero, in an extraordinary second half that allowed them to secure the victory and a place in the top eight of the League.

The team led by Venezuelan César Farías, which had started the game tied on points with Millonarios, Nacional and Fortaleza, now has three more points and the best thing, a very favorable goal difference, after taking advantage of all the advantages that a substitute roster of the Colombian champion, who gave the starter a rest after the triumph against Botafogo as a visitor, on Wednesday (1-3).

The first half was even, head to head, with two teams with good intentions, but with few options to score. From the outset, Junior received bad news, the injury of Argentine debutant Nicolás Zalazar, who only lasted 13 minutes on the field. That forced coach Arturo Reyes to move Homer Martínez to defense and bring in a midfielder, Diego Mendoza.

However, a burst from América at the end of the first stage allowed them to go two goals ahead at halftime. The first, in the 35th minute, when Rodrigo Holgado received a great pass from Edwin Velasco in the area to finish and score 1-0.

Then, at 45+2, Cristian Barrios recovered a ball and left Eduar López one-on-one with goalkeeper Jefferson Martínez to score 2-0. The goalkeeper was compromised in that goal, leaving his stick free.

The great goal by Daniel Bocanegra that triggered the victory

Now without Holgado, who was injured, and with the entry of Yojan Garcés, América had to wait half an hour to increase the advantage. And he did it with a great goal from Daniel Bocanegra, who hung the ball in the corner to celebrate.

The 3-0 left Junior against the ropes, ready to receive the knockout blow, which came a minute later: he served from the middle, lost the ball and Cristian Barrios, who recovered it, joined forces with Garcés and then fell to finish to score the fourth, at 75.

Junior remembered to attack very late and barely came to demand Graterol at the end of the match. And in one of those attacks, Bocanegra put his hand in the area and judge Alexander Ospina, with the help of the VAR, awarded a penalty. Marco Pérez, who had missed a very clear one at the start of the second half, did not fail this time.

América is more than alive, it has gone five dates without losing, with four victories, and the 21,918 fans who came to Pascual Guerrero left happy. Junior, beyond playing with substitutes, was left in debt.

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