Every football match is different, even if they have the same players, the same coaches and the same playing ideas. And Santa Fe, which this year had not been able to shake off Bucaramanga’s dominance, neither in the League nor in the Cup, did so this Wednesday to win away at the Américo Montanini stadium.
According to the criteria of
Pablo Peirano’s team took a little revenge for what happened in the final of the 2024-I league, in which they lost on penalty kicks. And the one who felt it the most was Julián Millán, the scorer of the winning goal. It was a relief.
The champions’ performance was very poor in the first half, when they hardly had a single shot, not even a deflected shot, at Andrés Mosquera Marmolejo’s goal. And even less so after the 27th minute, when central defender Carlos Romaña went with both legs in front and knocked down Yilmar Velásquez.
Referee Carlos Betancur initially showed the home defender a yellow card. But the VAR called him to review the action and showed him a very distant shot. The centre-back based his decision on that: a red card.
Julián Millán’s revenge: he scored the winning goal
If Bucaramanga is a team that doesn’t like to have the ball, playing with ten men, even less so. Santa Fe took a while to take advantage of that until the second half: in the 53rd minute, two of the protagonists of the final almost two months ago appeared in the play with which León opened the scoring.
Following a corner kick, Fredy Hinestroza, the scorer of the winning goal in the first leg of the final, headed the ball terribly wrong into the heart of the penalty area. And there appeared the player who had his last penalty shot saved in the shootout, Julián Millán, to take revenge, sending the ball into the back of the net and giving Santa Fe the win. He celebrated it with great emotion.
The 0-1 encouraged Bucaramanga to leave their area and try to get the ball. And the game was much more lively than in the first half, with approaches from side to side.
The match was much more balanced after the second expulsion of the match, this time on the side of Santa Fe: at 71, Jhojan Torres, who had come on for Velásquez after the tremendous foul that took Romaña out of the match, kicked Fabián Sambueza from behind. He had a yellow card and earned the second.
Ten against ten, Bucaramanga came close to equalising, but Santa Fe knew how to hold on. And the match was practically over in the 90+2 minute, when Hinestroza copied Torres’ expulsion and did exactly the same to Jordy Monroy. Betancur had no choice but to send him off.
Santa Fe is back on track, recovering from the defeat against La Equidad and getting closer to the top: it has nine points and is one away from the leaders. Bucaramanga has not yet recovered the virtues that led it to its first star.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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