Minute 93. Millionaires He was waiting for the final whistle, he left Ibagué with a minimal defeat, just 1-0, which could be traced back to Bogotá. But in that final moment, when Tolima he kept his minimal victory in his pocket, there was a foul in the area, a revised penalty in the VAR, and unexpected happiness in the blue squad. Minute 96, Pereira kicked, scored and Millos left Ibagué with more enthusiasm than ever.
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Millionaires suffered a lot. He did not hide at the beginning of the match. It started like there was no tomorrow. As if everything was defined in Ibagué. But his bravery did not last long against a Tolima who was imposing his conditions, who realized that his rival had a crack in the middle, so he was attacking him there, advancing his ranks until he was riding on the ground adversary.
VizzorImage / Joan Orjuela
And he began to feel around to see how goalkeeper Vargas was doing. At minute 14 the crossbar was like a horizontal hand that bounced the ball off a shot by Juan Pablo Nieto. In all Millonarios breathed deeply, but not so deep because immediately another shot from Estupiñán came that shook the net but from the outside. It was a double warning.
At that moment, to make matters worse, Fernando Uribe gave signs that he was not quite well. Alberto Gamero held his face, worried. Millionaires didn’t even catch the ball anymore, there was a moment of confusion. The crack in the middle got bigger. Juan Garcia did not recover, and Mackalister Silva I did what I could to support him. Meanwhile, Juan Fernando Caicedo took confidence, missed a shot out of place.
At minute 35 the blue drama really began. Nieto threw a center that Emerson Rodríguez could not prevent, straight into the area, where Caicedo waited so enthusiastically, alone and timely, two steps back to deceive, and kicked first; the ball was bouncing intrepid towards the net, as if the shot did not carry strength but mischief. 1-0.
(Also read: Sebastián Viera and his version of the fight in Millos vs. Junior)
The urgency of Gamero’s team was to put up the shield, to build the wall in the middle to prevent Tolima from continuing in its avalanche. In the second half, García left, Pereira entered to put order, but before the first minute Caicedo launched another shot on fire, up and at an angle where goalkeeper Vargas arrived to avoid another fall. And if it was not yet drama, it began to seem so when Arango received a double yellow and was sent off at minute 50.
And with everything and that, the game was balanced. Tolima could not do more damage, as if he did not calculate that the game is missing in Bogotá. Even Uribe, who finally never left, hit a header that almost ended in a goal. Emerson also tried and came close to drawing. And in response, Caicedo missed on a volley.
And already at the end, when the result seemed sealed, a blue colored light appeared. The penalty, a grab from Angulo to Valencia, the local protest, the visitor’s joy. 1-1 and the final is defined on Sunday in El Campín.
It may interest you: (Gamero leaves Ibagué optimistic: ‘The key remains open’)
PABLO ROMERO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@PabloRomeroET
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