flamingo consolidated this Thursday its perfect campaign in group H of the Copa Libertadores with three wins in the same number of starts at defeat at home by 2-3 to the Chileans of the Catholic University with a brace from Gabigol and a goal from Lázaro. Universidad Católica fell to third place with 3 points, 3 less than those obtained by Talleres de Córdoba, and only above Sporting Cristal, who have not yet scored in the entire tournament.
The Brazilians went ahead very soon, in the 8th minute, through Gabriel Barbosa’Gabigol‘, who advanced down the left flank and took advantage of a filtered pass from Bruno Henrique to beat goalkeeper Sebastián ‘Zanahoria’ Pérez at the near post. By then Paulo Sousa’s men seemed better planted in the field of the San Carlos de Apoquindo stadium.
at 16 minutes Mauritius Island, a Chilean who was trained in the Catholic but never debuted with the first team, sent the ball into his own net after a commotion in the area and left the game tied. The Chileans tried to put their will, but ran into a very vertical Flamengo that easily generated danger, especially on the right wing.
‘El Zanahoria’, highly criticized by some of the fans, supported his team until the 34th minute, in which Bruno Henrique again took advantage of a hole in the left side of the rival defense to serve Gabigol’s second goal on a plate , who only had to blow the ball into the net. The Henrique-Gabigol connection, a headache throughout the match for those from San Carlos de Apoquindo, worked again in the second half, although without the effectiveness of the first half against a defense from the Catholic University, which ruined the good work midfield and forward.
The Cruzados attacked with solvency and won most of the duels in midfield, but every time the ball hovered around the area the wall planted by Rodrigo Valenzuela in his international debut trembled. A false start by Sebastián Galani in the 85th minute allowed Paul Lazarus put the third on the scoreboard and leave the game almost sentenced. In the following minutes, the Catholic University tried with more heart than head, in the midst of the fury of the fans, who began to throw objects at the rival, but it was only enough to make up the result with a goal, with some luck on the rebound of Diego Bonanotte in the absence of a minute.
The fourth day of the Group will put Talleres face to face in their field against Flamengo on May 4, and Universidad Católica in the payments of Sporting Cristal the next day.
Olimpia and Colón draw
Olympia from Paraguay yielded this Thursday a valuable 0-0 draw against Colon of Argentina, in a group G duel in which the goalkeepers shone. After an intense match with providential interventions by the Uruguayan Gastón Olveira and the Argentine Ignacio Chicco, the Paraguayan Dean and the Rojinegros de Santa Fe settled for a point at the close of the third round of the regional tournament. The game, however, left a bittersweet taste for the Argentine team, who saw two goals disallowed for offside. For the Paraguayan King of Cups, Olveira’s role was decisive, as he flew to deflect several shots with his hand, intervening at the exact moment to block a ball or stop an opponent from advancing. He starred in one of those episodes near the end of the game, at minute 89, when he blocked a ball kicked by Eric Meza with his body.
Olveira saw his goal breached in the 38th minute in a face-to-face with Christian Bernardi, but the linesman ruled out the goal. The scene was repeated in the 57th minute, when Meza kicked a rebound that Olveira missed and was finally annulled.
Chicco, who started the Sabalero club in the absence of Leonardo Burián, also shone and knew how to shield his frame from Paraguayan attacks.
With this result, Colón confirmed himself in second place in group G, with four points, one above Peñarol from Uruguay. Cerro Porteño is the leader, after accumulating 7 points, and its historical rival, Olimpia, is last in the table, with two. The fourth day of this group will take place next Wednesday. That day Colón will receive Cerro Porteño, while Olimpia will play against Peñarol. This Thursday’s match was played from 8:00 p.m. local time (00:00 a.m. on Thursday) at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción, with Venezuelan Jorge Urrego refereeing.
Deportivo Cali starts a draw against Always Ready
The Deportivo Cali Colombian got a valuable draw 2-2at 3,650 meters above sea level in La Paz, before the alwaysready Bolivian in a vibrant duel of group H. With this result, the Brazilian Corinthians is currently the leader with 6 points, Deportivo Cali and Always Ready with 4 and in the background the Argentine Boca Juniors with 3. The Caleños had the merit of matching the game despite losing two goals down. The goals for the locals were in the 35th and 42nd minute, the work of the Argentinean Marcos Riquelme, from a penalty, and Juan Carlos ‘Conejo’ Arce, while equality for the Colombian team was built at the end of the first half from eleven meters with Kevin Velasco and in 54 with the Argentine Guillermo Burdisso.
Always Ready began the game with the clear proposal of looking for the rival goal, although they found Deportivo Cali tidy and well placed in all their lines. As the minutes passed, the visitors gradually increased their pressure and had one of their clearest scoring chances at the feet of Jhon Vásquez. At minute 35, Riquelme He opened the account for the Bolivian squad by launching a penalty that the Ecuadorian judge Augusto Aragón sanctioned after a foul on the Ecuadorian Jhonatan Borja of Always Ready. Later, when the Caleños had at least two chances to equalize, the second came for the Bolivians thanks to a right corner from Arce.
In the last play of the first half, a handball by Bolivian Sergio Adrián in his own area was sanctioned and Velasco converted the penalty into a goal.
In the second half, Deportivo Cali did not give up attacking and was rewarded with a goal from Burdisso who pushed a loose ball into the box after a corner kick. After the tie, both teams disputed possession of the game with equal efforts, although it was Deportivo Cali that was the most dangerous against a confident local goalkeeper, the Paraguayan Arnaldo Giménez, who prevented the Colombians from winning.