Once Caldas and Deportivo Cali faced each other at the start of the Saturday match for the tenth round of the Liga BetPlay Dimayor, where the team coached by ‘Arriero’ Herrera aimed to maintain their position at the top of the table against a sugar team that continues to suffer from relegation.
Prior to this great clash between the whites and the sugar team, the Manizales team drew 1-1 against Millonarios at Palogrande; while Cali also drew with the same result against Deportes Tolima as visitors.
The match began with Once Caldas being aggressive from the first minutes, as the ‘Arriero’ Herrera’s squad displayed all their arsenal against a Deportivo Cali that showed little resistance defensively at Palogrande.
It was at the 11th minute of the game that the local team would score the first goal of the match. A long-range shot by Mateo García resulted in a rebound off the Cali goalkeeper, Alejandro Rodríguez, which forward and team’s main reference, Dayro Moreno, took advantage of to put his name on the scoreboard.
This slight advantage for Once Caldas would last until the second half, when at the 65th minute the central defender, Jorge Cardona, would score again, heading in a cross delivered by Juan Cuesta from the right side of the field.
With this double advantage for the white team at home, the team was not at all satisfied and would strike a third goal at the 65th minute of the match. A long-range shot by Dayro Moreno saw the team captain record his double.
The plans the ‘Arriero’ had for his players continued in the second half, right when at the 72nd minute they found the fourth goal in the game. A luxurious pass from Dayro Moreno would end up at the feet of Michael Barrios, who left Rodríguez without a chance to stop the ball from hitting the net.
While Once Caldas would enjoy a great advantage in front of their fans, the match would end with a goal for Deportivo Cali in the second half. A corner kick taken from the right side ended up with José Caldera’s head, who scored the consolation goal for the sugar team.
In this way, Once Caldas would add their seventh victory in this second semester, accumulating 23 points in the standings and coming close to securing their early qualification for the semifinals. Meanwhile, Deportivo Cali would suffer their sixth defeat in the championship, now sitting in seventeenth place with 7 points, jeopardizing their status against relegation.
Now the next challenge for the locals will be against Envigado at the Polideportivo Sur. For Cali, it will be against Equidad at their stadium. Two matches that will correspond to the eleventh round of the Liga BetPlay Dimayor.