Students don’t stop. Win and follow his progress in all the competitions he plays. Students continue crossing out rivals and matches. Incredible the streak of a team that last night got its eighth win in a row playing at home in the two tournaments it is playing, a hellish streak that has it up, happy and expectant. Students defeated Nacional 1-0, thanks to a goal by Manuel Castro and gave themselves immense joy in the Copa Libertadores, yet another.
The game was a birth: tense, talked and disputed. But again, in the middle of the battle he had that second of lucidity to score the goal. In short, that was one of the main ones, or the most important, between one and the other. Because Pincha was able to liquidate him in the second half and Bolso even tied it. But goal scored only one.
This victory leaves him with 10 units above everything in zone C, six more than his rival last night and Bragantino, who will face Vélez tomorrow. They are virtually in the round of 16 because in addition to the points they have a goal difference of +6 against Nacional’s -2. If the Brazilians win the Fortín, it will define in San Pablo who ends up on top of everything. And in the meantime he will be able to play the finals of the Professional League Cup.
Already in the first half, what the match was going to be had been exposed: a leg a little stronger than usual, a lot of nervousness, zero spaces and the clarity that the first play that found an error in the rival was going to be the one that opened the match.
It cost Students that first half. After many games he was slow to leave the feeling of dominance, even in adversity and even though the rival handled the ball. Because last week Bragantino was more owner of the ball in the first half but nevertheless Pincha was a contender who was crouched and ready to go on the prowl. Last night it took a while to find that performance.
Nacional stopped a few meters further than imagined. His most capable players with the ball, in the case of Trezza, Monzeglio and Ocampo, were always on top of Zuqui and Corcho Rodríguez, generating confusion. That is why it had to be Gustavo Del Prete who had to go back several meters to take the ball to Sergio Rochet’s area.
It took a few minutes for Ricardo Zielinski to understand how his team should play. But after 20 minutes he released Leonardo Godoy and Emmanuel Mas on the wings, plus Del Prete’s management from the back to start, timidly, to become the owner of the game, a goatish, rough game and one of those where it doesn’t suit too much play one more game.
The team did not feel comfortable with “the trident” despite Del Prete’s good setback
The visit counterattacked with several players when he recovered, but never -in that period- he knew how to finish the play with a happy ending. Either he took longer than necessary to finish off the goal and rehearsed crosses that Andújar easily contained.
On the other side was the ball stopped. Flagship of a Estudiantes that the few times he threw the bomb into the area he hurt. Once Agustín Rogel headed and the goalkeeper deflected to the corner. In the following the header was Leandro Díaz, lukewarm and far from the goal.
But at 39 came the key move of the first half. Brian Ocampo was injured and the visit was left with one less player, waiting for Diego Zabala to enter, which took longer than expected. then the fast lateral, the wall and the arrival of Leo Godoy from the bottom, who took advantage of the fact that there was no mark. More than half a goal was his. Then he threw the center of death so that the Uruguayan Manuel Castro managed to connect with his left foot, beating the goalkeeper and Nicolás Marichal, who ultimately ended up pushing to the bottom of the goal, to the delight of the crowd. Goal with some “drum”,
As expected, Nacional came out after the break determined to tie the game. His lateral defenders loosened up more and went on the attack and thus in a few minutes, he reached the area more times than in the initial 45 minutes. At that moment he had a clear scoring opportunity, at the feet of Leandro Lozano, who after 7 minutes made those in the audience bite their lip harder than before: he entered from the right and his shot passed very close to the Andújar’s left post.
Zielinski got in touch with Morel in the middle, Zuqui on the right and Castro on the left
Then the Zielinski bank moved. Inside Jorge Morel so that Corcho Rodríguez (of a weak game in the middle) was delayed to help the defense. Then Zuqui went to the right and Manuel Castro to the left. He did not noticeably improve but without a doubt the presence of the Paraguayan in the middle gave him another imprint and a better numerical situation in a sector of the field where he was having a hard time.
That’s why in the following minutes it was Estudiantes who had better control of the ball and took the game, after a while, to the opposite goal. In that period, he had two chances that could serve to finish him off, such as Fabián Noguera’s frontal header, Emmanuel Mas’s shot from the left and one against Matías Pellegrini who abused the individual when he had a pass option to the left. Those three plays, between 30 and 35 minutes, remained in the atmosphere as the ones that the team had failed to keep in the bag the much-needed victory.
But there was no more time, or rather because on the last play a center hit Noguera’s thigh and then his arm, a situation that prompted the visitors to claim a penalty, which Colombian Wilmar Roldán and his assistant sanctioned. And it was the final, with delirium in the stands and a lot of celebration on the field, because it was a victory, one more in UNO, to continue at the top of its zone in the Copa Libertadores. Students is virtually one step away from qualifying for the round of 16. Students, for some time now, you have been partying and don’t want to go to sleep.
Mauro Boselli’s hug to Manuel Castro, euphoric for having scored the only goal / Dolores Ripoll
