The mystique of Students on the nights of Libertadores Cup. The pride of Leónwho was wounded, licked the wound and went for the prey. From the confusion of the first half to the push to corner and devour The Strongesthe Tigre Bolivian who hit home with the goal of Enrique Triverio, but could not stand up against the succession of attacks carried out by the people of La Plata in the second half. The multiple moves that coach Eduardo Domínguez made since the team was at a disadvantage on the scoreboard had an effect: Guido Carrillo scored the tie and the Colombian Edwuin Cetré, who assisted the striker in the first celebration, sealed the 2-1 victory. With four points in two games, Estudiantes is the leader, along with Huachipato (Chile), in Group C of the Copa Libertadores.
The Copa Libertadores, due to history, is a unique attraction for Estudiantes. Four trophies in the display cases, the last in 2009, reflect the unique relationship of the León with the highest international club competition of Conmebol. Rediscovering himself as a protagonist, after the draw in the debut with Huachipato, in Chile, a goal to feed the illusion. AND break the barricades that the rival put up, a task that would require serenity, courage, because The Strongest arranged a defense with five footballers and a line of midfielders made up of four players. “Reduce spaces and take advantage of what they can offer us by coming to our field,” anticipated the Argentine coach. Pablo Lavallenwho took office during the first days of the year.
The plans, however, were shelved after seven minutes, with the expulsion of Marc Enoumba, the Cameroonian who became a Bolivian national and defends the shirt of the team led by Carlos Zago. An error by Diego Wayar in the midfielder’s zone generated the pass into space and the run by Javier Correa, who was knocked down by the defender and left Colombian referee Nicolás Gallo with no alternative to show the red card. A favorable situation that Estudiantes did not regret, while The Strongest strengthened itself and redoubled its efforts. Not only did the Bolivian team not take refuge, it designed the best opportunities to break equality. From a corner taken by Rodrigo Ramallo and by Jaime Arrascaita, the Argentine Triverio finished with a header and made the ball hit the crossbar. A real warning of the striker’s firepower, who fulfilled 100 games with the shirt Tigre.
The summary of Estudiantes’ victory over The Strongest
An Argentine soccer player, Joel Amoroso, did his best and recovered the ball on the baseline; The man from Rosario unloaded the ball at Arrascaita, who launched the center. A delivery that was not dangerous turned into a hammer blow: Santiago Ascacibar dotted the ball – leaving his teammate Zaid Romero out of action – and Triverio executed his work: the attacker finished and the ball bounced off Eros Mancuso, he collected the rebound and with A left-footed shot, crossed, left goalkeeper Matías Mansilla with no chance. The scorer and the best way to celebrate the centenary with the aurinegra shirt: in The Strongest, the Santa Fe native already scored 50 times. A shocking average: a goal every two games and in the current Copa Libertadores he scored against Gremio and now Estudiantes.
A lukewarm reaction showed Estudiantes, who in Tiago Palacios had his figure of imbalance. The Colombian Cetré – absent at the premiere because he had a suspension date from his time at the DIM – alternated good and bad and Correa was the one who pointed the guns at the goal that Guillermo Viscarra defended. Captain José Sosa had his chance, after Maximiliano Caire got tangled in the clearance, but at the end little Prince He lacked aim. And it was the last thing that the referee provided, because coach Domínguez had two modifications 36 minutes into the first half: Carrillo and Eric Meza jumped from the substitutes’ bench and replaced Gastón Benedetti -he was reprimanded- and Sosa. Without much ingenuity, but with a lot of drive, Estudiantes attempted the assault: the rush to resolve generated bad decisions and weak definitions. Poise was a virtue that DT Domínguez tried to instill, but the message did not impact: “We will play with people’s anxiety and also with euphoria. “Do not despair, be calm, but be aggressive and deep,” he noted as a plan before the game. The first act had little of that road map that was drawn up.
Domínguez kicked the board again, who at the start of the second half brought in Pablo Piatti – an offensive footballer, with experience in management – and removed Federico Fernández, another leader of the squad. More play, more connections, better associations to advance with the ball and not throwing crosses, where it did not prevail that the rival had one less player, the challenge. The Bolivian counterproposal was the entry of Álvaro Quiroga for Ramallo. It was a storm for Estudiantes, who made the goalkeeper tumble three times in ten minutes; In a fourth, Carrillo could not filter the ball between a barrier of legs.
The Strongest’s determination to control the game, rather than the ball, disappeared in the second half. He Tigre practically defended with nine players in the area and the Leónfiercely, he threw his claws. Through the air and from below, risky plays followed one another: Cetré drew an individual maneuver, but raised the shot. In the next action he chose to assist Carrillo, who broke the spell in a rush and with an irregular finish. An explosion and a liberating cry to go for victory with 25 minutes to go.
The intensity did not decrease Pinch. He recovered quickly and sought to exploit the width of the playing field. Due to spaces, he made the wrong route and became entangled in the defensive funnel proposed by the Bolivian team. Until Cetré, who started the game on the left and with the changes that Domínguez was trying, ended up lying on the opposite wing, took over the key to the goal. A cross shot, impossible for a goalkeeper who at that point was the only supporter of The Strongest’s hope, who never managed to score points in his visits to the Argentine fields: 16 appearances and the same number of defeats.
Estudiantes met the challenge, which now shares first place with Huachipato, which added a momentous victory over Gremio, in Porto Alegre. The Brazilians will be León’s future rivals: on April 23, the Uno stadium will be the scene of the match for the third round of the group. With the strength offered by a tight but fair success, on Friday he will complete the 63 minutes of the suspended match with Boca, for the League Cup. Pincha wants to fight on all fronts.