He America and the Catholic University drew 1-1 this Wednesday in the fourth day of Group E of the Libertadores Cup, played in the stadium Pascual Guerrero of Cali, and they missed the opportunity to get close to the Guild and International leaders.
In a fought match, the locals went ahead with a goal from winger Duván Vergara, while the tie was the work of Argentine striker Fernando Zampedri, so both teams will have to give their best in the last two days to dream of qualifying for the round of 16.
In an intense start, the 'Red Devils' opened the scoring very quickly, at minute three, when the Argentine goalkeeper Matías Dituro failed in a clearance and left the ball to Vergara who, with the goal alone, took a right hand that made people celebrate to the bench led by Juan Cruz Real.
The 'Cruzados' reacted quickly and turned their attacks to the right side, where the projections of the veteran winger José Pedro Fuenzalida began to be important, who tried to hurt by joining the Argentine winger Gastón Lezcano.
This is how Lezcano himself was knocked down in the area by side Nicolás Giraldo and the referee whistled a penalty at minute 6 that was thrown by midfielder Luciano Aued and saved by America's goalkeeper, Venezuelan Joel Graterol, who ratified why he was chosen as starter for this match in place of Éder Chaux.
The match maintained the intensity and opportunities came in both goals, as the hosts appealed to the experience of the striker Adrián Ramos to generate opportunities, while the visitors sought out the fast Puch and Zampedri with long balls, constant headaches for the centrals red.
As the minutes passed, the Chileans seized the ball and began to attack the Colombians from all sides under the leadership of Fuenzalida, who tried to take advantage of the fact that the full-back Giraldo was injured and Daniel Quiñones entered his place, who played at profile changed.
However, the equality goal came from the left side where Puch, uncomfortable with the brand of his compatriot Rodrigo Ureña, managed to get a cross and Zampedri, anticipating central Juan Pablo Segovia, sent the ball to the back of the net with a touch at minute 33.
For the complementary stage, the Catholic continued attacking as in the closing of the first half and had approaches with shots diverted from the midfielder César Pinares.
The local response was led by Vergara, the most skilled of its extremes, and by Juan David Pérez, who replaced Ramos.
The 'Cruzados', driven by an insistent Puch on the left wing, were appropriating the ball, while America looked physically worn and appealed to the counterattack, for which they entered the fast Luis Sánchez and Santiago Moreno.
The vertigo was the protagonist in the final minutes and between the poor aim and the precise interventions of Graterol and Dituro, the match ended 1-1.
Group E is commanded by Gremio and Internacional with seven points each, followed by América and Universidad Católica, both with four units.
– Data sheet:
1. America: Joel Graterol; Rodrigo Ureña, Marlon Torres, Juan Pablo Segovia, Nicolás Giraldo (d.28, Daniel Quiñones); Luis Paz, Rafael Carrascal, Carlos Sierra (min.45, Felipe Jaramillo); Duván Vergara (m.73, Luis Sánchez), Jhon Arias (m.73, Santiago Moreno) and Adrián Ramos (m.53, Juan David Pérez).
Coach: Juan Cruz Real.
1. U. Católica: Matías Dituro; José Pedro Fuenzalida (m.73, Diego Valencia), Germán Lanaro, Valber Huerta, Raimundo Rebolledo; Luciano Aued, Ignacio Saavedra, César Pinares (m.73, Diego Buonanotte); Gastón Lezcano, Fernando Zampedri and Edson Puch.
Coach: Ariel Holan.
Goals: 1-0, m.3: Duván Vergara. 1-1, m.33: Fernando Zampedri.
Referee: the Venezuelan Jesus Valenzuela. He admonished Rebolledo, Sierra, Giraldo, Ureña, Saavedra, Valencia and Torres.
Incidents: match of the fourth day of Group E of the Copa Libertadores played at the Pascual Guerrero stadium, in Cali.