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This Thursday, at the Metropolitan Stadium of Barranquilla, Atlético Junior defeated Unión La Calera 2-1, in the first leg of the round of 16 of the South American Cup.
The shark team, with Miguel Ángel Borja and Teófilo Gutiérrez in the attack front, did not save anything and in the first minutes they set off the alarms in the visiting team. Miguel Ángel Borja, at minute 4, took a strong shot in the area and demanded for the first time Alexis Arias, who in a great way contained the shot and avoided a first fall in his goal
Junior, with good ball handling and mobility, began to give his wings out; With Didier Moreno clearly recovering the ball in the middle of the court and with Teo as the axis of creation, he began to create danger in the southern team’s area.
Precisely, in one of those combinations between Teófilo and the players on the wings, the rojiblanco team was close to taking the lead. Gutiérrez enabled Gabriel Fuentes in depth from the left sector, so that the defender put a center back in the direction of Edwuin Cetre, who in speed and with a great jump attacked the ball, with bad luck, that the header hit a defender and ended in the corner kick.
La Calera, subdued by the Barranquilla team, waited in their half and with very little offensive play they approached Sebastián Viera’s goal.
Those of Amaranto Perea continued with the attack, and in minute 31, by air, they arrived again in danger. Daniel Rosero, after a corner kick, won over his rivals and with a strong header almost opened the scoring. Arias, La Calera goalkeeper, saved the shot in a great way. The goalkeeper was already a figure.
At the end of the first half, finally, Junior got the first goal of the match. A play by Fuentes, which featured a spectacular curtain from Teófilo, left Cetre in front of the goal, who did not hesitate and took a shot with a right leg at the corner, impossible for Arias to tackle.
In the second half, La Calera, with more order, closed the spaces to the shark group; However, in the 58th minute, the Colombian team attacked again with danger and with a shot off the post from Cetre, it was close to increasing the advantage.
Minutes later, in a play to deconcentrate the local defense, Thomas Rodríguez tied the game at the Metropolitano. The 24-year-old forward received a great assist from Fernando Cordero, which left him alone in front of the Uruguayan Viera, whom he eluded with class and sent the ball to the back of the net. The action, which was initially canceled out of place, was reviewed by the VAR and later decreed as a goal.
The australes took confidence and minutes later they returned to step on the shark box area. However, the Barranquilla team responded to the cold water spill, and with Teófilo as the protagonist of an individual action, put the visiting goalkeeper’s goal on alert.
Junior, at the end of the game, without losing patience and style of play, managed to score the advantage goal. In a play that again had Gabriel Fuentes as the protagonist, it ended in a superb header from Miguel Ángel Borja, who after receiving a good center from the left side, jumped with power to drive the ball into the back of the net.
With 2-1 as the final result, Junior, showing good play, enforced his home and took an important advantage in the first leg of the round of 16 of the South American Cup.
