Peñarol was crowned champion of the Clausura Tournament by beating Defensor Sporting 2-1 in the Champion of the Century for the 14th and penultimate date. In addition, they were three points behind Nacional in the Annual Table, so they still aspire to reach a tiebreaker.
The game started in an unbeatable way for the visiting team, which took the lead at 4′. José Álvarez crossed low from the left, Diego Abreu fought for position with Nahuel Herrera and in his attempt to clear, the Mirasol defender kicked the purple striker’s left boot. Gustavo Tejera whistled a penalty at the request of the VAR and Abreu capitalized on it.
Ignacio Ithurralde’s team was not satisfied with the 1-0 lead and in the following minutes they sought to attack on the wings with speed and at times put pressure on them. Diego Aguirre’s team, shaken by the goal, was disjointed at the start, with Leonardo Fernández uncomfortable on the right wing. Stiven Muhletaler started on the left and then they changed forwards.
With still balls and some association in the middle, Peñarol tried, although with difficulties in supplying Matías Arezo and Maximiliano Silvera. Defensor Sporting populated the midfield with Germán Barrios, Lucas Paul de los Santos and Mauricio Amaro, who was the midfielder who tried the most to split into the attack.
The coal team did not arrive clearly, despite the fact that they pushed with more force than ideas, until at 45′ they equalized. A free kick executed in the form of a center generated a clearance by Juan Bautista Viacava, and Lucas Hernández appeared on the rebound to connect a spectacular left foot shot, scissors, that sealed the 1-1 score at halftime.
Peñarol came out in the second half motivated by the goal and renewed in energy and ideas. From the whistle of Tejera he showed himself superior, he planted himself in the rival field, attacked from the outside and besieged his rival until another still ball turned the result around. Leo Fernández took a corner, Abreu half-rejected it and Hernández once again dressed as a scorer to fill the instep of the left-footed boot and inflate the net in the 55th minute.
The rebound of Ignacio Sosa and Eric Remedi in the midfield was essential to take control of the match against an opponent who could no longer repeat the rhythm of the first half hour of play. However, the variants and the normal development of the procedure led those led by Diego Aguirre to end up defending near their goal and betting on the counterattack.
Ithurralde moved chips after the goal with the contributions of Alan Torterolo, Nicolás Wunsch and Lautaro Navarro. Xavier Biscayzacú later entered, demanding Brayan Cortés in his first intervention at 71′ with a left footed shot from outside the area. The Chilean had not even appeared in the television footage for several minutes, and a while later he had to intervene again after a couple of weak shots from Amaro, after two good team plays.
He suffered in the final stretch but ended up securing the victory for Peñarol, who had time to give Ignacio Sosa and Eric Remedi the fifth warning because they already achieved their goal of the Clausura and know that they will face Liverpool in the semi-final of the Uruguayan Championship. In addition, he could play a final for the Annual Table against Nacional and leave him out of the definition for the title.
