[ad_1]
Of those victories that leave much more than three points. A dangerous rival like Vélez Sarsfield, in Buenos Aires, for a decisive round of an international championship. Against all that, Universidad Católica showed that it is up for great things in this version of the Copa Sudamericana. And she did it with a 1-2 win that leaves her with the semifinal qualification in the palm of her hand.
Without the college classic in between, Ariel Holan had time to dedicate himself exclusively to the first leg in the quarterfinals. It was noticed. He closed the path of his Argentine adversary, a young team, very intense and with a lot of passing through the bands. The truth is that Vélez scared the goal of Dituro very little, who when he was called upon responded brilliantly. His double covered 28 minutes into the first half is worthy of a title. So tight was it that the referee had to receive assistance from the VAR to confirm that the ball did not enter.
Above, UC enjoyed very high individual returns. Huerta and Lanaro, firm and almost always well located. Parot, taking over the left wing, in defense and attack. Saavedra, the best on the court, managing the times and the strings of his squad. Aued, Fuenzalida, smart. And Zampedri, the gunner, fighting with everyone, breaking everything, even the tooth of one of his markers, in a crash without malicious intent. It was the Argentine, in fact, who opened the account in the last seconds of the first half, after a center from Parot.
More about South American Cup
With that goal on 9, the task was almost complete. The hallmark of the party, however, with a counterattack that Puch made concrete by hooking for his right. The forward was also one of the important points in the good performance of the strip and showed it with his run after receiving the deep pass from Aued.
Vélez was very touched with the annotations. Frustration showed on the faces of his players. And although with the ticking of the clock it rearmed itself to try the comeback, the truth is that Católica was never really pressed. With the advantage in their pocket, the Chilean team dedicated themselves to managing it. The trans-Andeans, yes, they found the discount at 90 ′, when Lucero defined with a header in the small area.
There were five minutes of discount, which were very tense, due to the momentum of Vélez. UC’s triumph was endangered, but not because of the development of the game, but because of the emotional end. The concrete thing is that for the rematch next Tuesday, in San Carlos, the Chileans have a very good chance of getting among the four best in the Copa Sudamericana.
