On a cold and gray afternoon in which the fog covered the sky of Montevideo, Nacional and Peñarol signed a draw in a Clásico that ended 1-1 thanks to goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and David Terans in the return of football in Uruguay after the pandemic
Four months and twenty-three days after the Uruguayan Championship was suspended after the declaration of a health emergency due to the arrival of COVID-19 in the country and without an audience in the stands, the big teams did not show their best versions and distributed points for a table that they are not well located.
In the first minutes of play, Peñarol was more aggressive than his rival and bothered him with plays on the left wing where full-back Joaquín Piquerez and young Facundo Pellistri teamed up to try to assist Matías Britos and David Terans.
For its part, Nacional opted for long balls to look for its forwards Santiago Rodríguez, Gonzalo Bergessio and Gonzalo 'Chory' Castro.
The first approaches in the Classic were with distant shots that did not generate greater danger. Meanwhile, the clearest came in the last 25 minutes of the first half when both teams began to use set pieces as their main weapon.
In this way and at 32, the Argentine Bergessio advanced to Nacional, with a powerful header after a corner kick executed by Gabriel Neves. After the goal, the two teams lowered the intensity and did not create risky situations until the last moment of the first stage when Gary Kagelmacher crashed a ball against the post.
At the beginning of the second half, Peñarol again turned their attack towards the left wing to which Cristian 'Cebolla' Rodríguez joined from the relay bench, however, when he went with more intensity in search of a tie, a strong entry de Britos over Mathías Suárez left the team with 10 players.
After that play, Nacional's coach, Gustavo Munúa, sent the speedy Sebastián Fernández and Brian Ocampo to the field to try to take advantage of the spaces that their rival and liquidate the game.
However, the one who found the goal in the 79th minute was Peñarol thanks to a defensive left of the tricolor well used by David Terans.
After the equality, no greater risk situations were generated and finally the teams distributed points that were of little use to them since the Nacional was thirteenth in the Aperura Tournament seven points behind the Rentistas leader, and the coalman eighth five units from the top.
1.National: Luis Mejía; Mathías Suárez (m.69, Armando Méndez), Mathías Laborda, Agustin Oliveros, Ayrton Cougo; Felipe Carballo (d.69 Joaquín Trasante), Claudio Yacob, Gabriel Neves; Santiago Rodríguez (m.69, Brian Ocampo), Gonzalo Bergessio (m.79, Thiago Vecino) and Gonzalo Castro (m.75, Sebastián Fernández).
Coach: Gustavo Munúa
1.Peñarol: Kevin Dawson; Giovanni González, Gary Kagelmacher, Rodrigo Abascal, Joaquín Piquerez (m.69, Xisco Jiménez); Facundo Pellistri, Krisztián Vadócz, Jesús Trindade, Matías De Los Santos (m.45, Cristian Rodríguez); Matías Britos, David Terans (m.85, Denis Olivera).
Coach: Pablo Forlán, who took the place of the suspended Diego Forlán.
Goals: 1-0, m.32: Gonzalo Bergessio. 1-1, m 79: David Terans.
Referee: Christian Ferreyra. He admonished Mathías Suárez and Denis Olivera. He expelled Matías Britos
Incidents: Meeting corresponding to the fourth date of the Apertura Tournament played behind closed doors at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.