Millonarios won and dreams: they beat Pereira and were close to qualifying

Millonarios had a frenetic start, showing that they were going for victory and did not intend to speculate at all against Pereira. He began to approach with Mackalister Silva and with Leonardo Castro. Silva precisely had the first shot, testing the agility of goalkeeper Mosquera who was very attentive.

The Mateca team was not willing to be subdued and began to generate its football on the right wing, where the player Gil was a headache for the blue defense. Gil had a great overflow, he put the pass back where it appeared Ederson Moreno to take a shot. The ball took a slight height and crashed into the crossbar.

Millonarios realized that they needed to accelerate and put conditions in place quickly. He made it. In a great touch after a throw-in, he destroyed the resistance of Mateca and when the ball went to the area, defender Moya touched it, slowing him down, but Emerson Rodríguez came stealthily behind him to score and score to make it 0-1 at 16 minutes.

It was a huge haul, since Millonarios needed to win to get closer to qualifying. Pereria, already qualified, maintained his fast play on the sides. He had an approach with a shot by Yesus Cabrera that was saved by goalkeeper Álvaro Montero. But he couldn't be careless, because the blue attacks were very dangerous. In fact, Leonardo Castro had the second goal in a header that went wide when he had all the space and panorama to define better.

The great controversy of the match occurred in that first half, around 35 minutes, when the player Daniel Cataño hit Jean Carlos Pestaña with his elbow in the face of an opponent. The referee Luis Delgado did not consider it to be an expulsion and only showed him the yellow card. After that play the game entered a rhythm of friction.

For the second half the game was very emotional, but Pereira came out on top with more determination. Primer Hernández avoided the tie by crossing his leg in a shot by Ibargüen. But then Yesus arrived armed, with everything, he entered the area, Vargas disarmed him and then he couldn't refuse and returned the ball, Yesus took his shot and scored, 1-1 in 62 minutes. Pereira was even able to win, Yeison Suárez had the goal scored and he narrowly missed out.

But Millonarios was not dead. A clear handball inside the area meant a penalty when the game was in the 84th minute. Leo Castro was in charge of executing it with a shot and inside, 1-2, blue victory. Millonarios was close to qualifying.

PABLO ROMERO
SPORTS