He Athletico Paranaense was this Wednesday in an excellent position to advance to the round of 16 of the Libertadores Cup by beating the Colo Colo 2-0 with two own goals from the Chilean team, in a match on the fourth day of the Group C.
The Curitiba team, which is going through a bad time in the Brazilian Championship, has 9 points out of 12 possible, 3 more than Colo Colo.
Group C is closed by Jorge Wilstermann and Peñarol, who have three units each and will meet this Thursday.
The Paranaense today resolved the meeting by fast track, in the first quarter of an hour, with the own goals of defender Felipe Campos (m.7) and midfielder Gabriel Suazo (m.14).
Those led by Eduardo Barros enjoyed more opportunities to sentence the match even in the first half, but they soon settled for the advantage of two goals due to the little danger that the Cacique generated.
The Chilean team woke up in the last half hour of the match, but their aim failed and hardly bothered Santos, one of the best goalkeepers in the Brazilian League.
The first of the goals came from a corner kick. The central Pedro Henrique got to deflect the ball, but it was Felipe Campos who introduced him to the back of the net.
The second would arrive just seven minutes later. The play began in a connection between Christian and Léo Cittadini that culminated in a pass into the area that, after a sequence of rebounds, ended up finishing Suazo into his goal.
Before the two goals, the visiting coach, Gualberto Jara, had to make the first change in the opening minutes due to Mouche's injury.
Marco Bolados tried to reactivate his team with intensity in the cut and speed on the right wing, but he was alone in his attempt to shorten differences. Only Suazo accompanied him in the company with a shot from outside the area that went high.
The Paranaense tried to sentence the match to the counterattack and almost did it in a header from Pedrinho.
The dominance of the Curitiba team was evident during practically the entire first half and only Insaurralde's claw in the center of the Colo Colo field prevented a greater misfortune.
At the resumption, the two teams interspersed opportunities. First Parraguez almost reached a cross pass from Valencia, although goalkeeper Santos managed to thwart the danger. Shortly after Pedrinho and Christian warned with individual shots.
The problems for Colo Colo increased with the retirement due to injury of Óscar Opazo.
As the minutes passed, Paranaense relaxed and gave ground to his rival, who dominated the last leg of the match, albeit in a pyrrhic way with hardly any clear scoring opportunities.
– Data sheet:
2. Athlético Paranaense: Santos; Jonathan (m.82, Jorginho), Thiago Heleno, Pedro Henrique, Márcio Azevedo (m.46, Abner); Léo Cittadini (m.82, Lucho González), Wellington, Christian (m.90, Léo Gomes), Erick, Pedrinho (m.69, Geuvanio); and Fabinho.
Coach: Eduardo Barros.
0. Colo Colo: Brayan Cortés; Oscar Opazo (m.57, Bryan Soto), Felipe Campos, Juan Insaurralde, Ronald de La Fuente (m.46, Bryan Vejar); César Fuentes, Gabriel Suazo, Matías Fernández (d.46, Carlos Carmona); Marco Bolados (m.76, Gabriel Costa), Pablo Mouche (m.7, Leonardo Valencia) and Javier Parraguez.
Coach: Gualberto Jara.
Goals: 1-0, m.7: Felipe Campos, in his own goal. 2-0, m.14: Gabriel Suazo, in own goal.
Referee: the Argentine Fernando Rapallini. He admonished Valencia, Cittadini and Soto.
Incidents: match of the fourth day of Group C of the Copa Libertadores played at the Arena Baixada in Curitiba.