Santa Fe advances, little by little, to consolidate the project of the Uruguayan Alfredo Arias at the head of the team. But in the 270 minutes of the 2022-II League he has had to suffer more than necessary.
He had just saved a draw against La Equidad, giving away two points in the last play against Águilas Doradas in Rionegro and This Sunday, in his first home game, Cortuluá emboldened him, but he could not avoid a 1-0 defeat that was built in the first half and in which the locals had to endure almost half an hour with one less.
Arias has more or less kept the same names on the starting roster, with players who little by little establish themselves as the backbone of the team: the goalkeeper Leandro Castellanos, the Uruguayan José Aja, Carlos Sánchez, Matías Mier, Néyder Moreno and Wilson Morelo. And on that structure he has made some moves. This time, against Cortuluá, he took out Juan Sebastián Pedroza, who had been a starter in both away games, to give Wilfrido de la Rosa another game.
The goal that gave Santa Fe the advantage
Part of that backbone, the offense, was directly involved in the first goal of the match at El Campín. Moreno received the ball in a throw-in, his action ended in a rejection, Mier picked up the ball and when many expected a shot on goal, he touched the edge of the area so that Hárold Rivera came from behind to hit him from there, at ground level, and score the 1-0, in the 39th minute.
Santa Fe is already beginning to show some of the characteristics that Arias wants: a game without much touch in the middle, more direct, taking advantage of the speed and skill of its wingers and the punch of Mier, Rivera and Moreno. The problem is that sometimes the team played very withdrawn and Cortuluá, very needy due to the relegation issue, did not wait for it. On the contrary, on more than one occasion he demanded of Castellanos.
The expulsion made Santa Fe give up attacking
The problem for Santa Fe was aggravated with an action in which the VAR intervened to notify the referee Héctor Rivera that Andrey Estupiñán (who had entered the second stage for De la Rosa, supposedly to take care of the block, because the attacker had a yellow card) had elbowed Féiver Mercado, Cortuluá’s attacker, in the face. The judge accepted the suggestion and showed him the red card.
From that moment on, if not because there were 10,060 Santa Fe fans in the stands, the game seemed to be played at the Doce de Octubre stadium and not at El Campín. Santa Fe, now openly, ended up behind, defending with five, because the ‘Roca’ Sánchez got between the two centrals, and the team never came back with solvency, beyond one or another pitch looking for Morelo. And to complete, Arias, in the last minutes, almost completely gave up the attack, with one more man of the brand, Jonathan Herrera, instead of Néyder Moreno.
Leandro Castellanos ended up being a figure, stopping several difficult balls, including a point-blank shot by Henry Rojas, much whistled by the red grandstand for what he did in the 2017-II League final between Santa Fe and Millonarios. And this time, fortunately for Arias, there were no mistakes at the end of the game. In points, Santa Fe continues to grow. In game, there is still room for improvement.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Sub-Editor
@josasc
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