América Mineiro squandered a two-goal lead and drew 2-2 at Colombian Deportes Tolima, leaving the Brazilians with no chance of advancing in Group D of the Copa Libertadores.
Marlon opened the scoring for Coelho with an early goal (7) and defender Iago Maidana doubled the penalty lead (27). But the Brazilians couldn’t hold on to the three points and let Anderson Plata (40) and Michael Rangel (43) tie the game.
Tolima reached 8 points and remains in second place in the group, waiting for Thursday’s duel between the powerful Atlético Mineiro (8 points) and Independiente del Valle (5 points).
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This Thursday’s game, key to Tolima’s future
The two qualified for the round of 16 will be defined next week, when
Tolima visits Atlético Mineiro and Independiente del Valle receives the sentenced América-MG.
Prior to the duel, the DT of Tolima, Hernán Torres, complained about the low attendance at the local duels for the Libertadores. The fans responded and went to the stadium en masse, although without filling the stands of Manuel Murillo Toro, renamed Gabriel Camargo for this game in tribute to the president of the club, hospitalized for serious cancer.
Before the Tolimenses settled in their seats, the Coelho opened fire. About minute 7, Henrique Almeida entered the local area avoiding rivals. The play was dirty with a string of rebounds that left the ball floating over the penalty spot, where Marlon hit a powerful volley that defeated the Ecuadorian team goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez.
Forced to defend second place in the group table, Tolima charged forward in search of an equalizer and got excited when striker Michael Rangel grabbed a rebound in the area and beat goalkeeper Jailson. But the play was annulled by the Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini, who detected a touch with the hand of the scorer Pijao.
The central judge was also right in pointing out a foul by José Moya in the Colombian area and sanctioning a penalty in favor of América arriving at half an hour of play. Moments of tension were experienced in the stadium while defender Iago Maidana advanced slowly towards the ball: his shot was crossed, accurate and doubled the advantage for the Brazilians.
Injured, the Pijaos went into burst mode to defy the curse that has prevented them from advancing to the second round of Libertadores since 1982. With five minutes to go before the break, Rangel broke away to receive on the edge of the Brazilian area. But, at the last moment, he let the ball continue to enable winger Anderson Plata, who was cold-blooded and scored the discount.
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three minutes later, Rangel returned to the charge and ran over a cross from Jonathan Marulanda to level the match and give hope to the Vinotinto y Oro fans.
The break deflated Tolima, who spent the first ten minutes of the second half withdrawn into their area.
América Mineiro’s oxygen tank began to fail after 60 minutes of play. The Red Wine felt the weakness of the rival and seized the ball. But he did not know how to conjure up the indecision between speeding up the pace to get a foot in the round of 16 or keeping the point that left them in a good position to fight for the quota on the last date.
In the end, the Pijao settled for eliminating the rival on duty and their fans will have to wait another week to find out if the team finally manages to return to the second round of the most important club tournament on the continent.
SPORTS
with AFP
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