La U come from behind to earn a late point against Rangers.
Rangers 2-2 Universidad de Chile
Chile’s domestic Clausura tournament resumed this weekend after the international break, with the pick of the weekend’s matches a battle for the top spot between second placed Universidad de Chile and first-placed Rangers.
Gustavo Lorenzetti scored La U’s opening goal against Rangers. Photo courtesy of Luciano Civelli Fans/ Twitter.The two leading teams in the Clausura came in to the match on the back of two consecutive wins, and the match promised to be a tightly contested affair. Despite taking the lead in the first half, La U had to come from behind to earn a point with a goal in injury time.
Speaking after the game, La U manager Jorge Sampaoli said his team deserved more from match.
“The match gave us a first half in which La U was the superior team, where we should have got the win and we were dominating the game,” Sampaoli said. “But for the development of the game, in a difficult field, it is commendable because we always went looking (for the tie).”
La U dominated the early possession, carving up the Rangers’ defense and creating the better chances.
La U capitalized on one such chance with neat passing around the edge of the box that was capped off perfectly by Argentine playmaker Gustavo Lorenzetti who fired La U ahead in the 35th minute. Lorenzetti collected the ball on the edge of the area, played a neat one-two with Guillermo Marino before firing a left-footed shot high past the onrushing Petric in goal.
Despite their domination, La U was unable to take their lead into halftime break. Rangers’ top scorer in the Clausura, David Llanos, fired in from two yards with his first clear chance of the half. A cross was swung over from the right and although La U goalkeeper Johnny Herrera saved the initial diving header, he could not cling on to the ball and Llanos pounced to put his side level.
Rangers resumed the match after the break with the same momentum, and took the lead five minutes into the second half after a clumsy Albert Acevedo gave away a penalty. Milton Caraglio stepped up and, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, slotted the penalty away to give his team the lead.
La U pushed for the tie, and a red card to the home team in the 79th minute gave them the advantage they were looking for. Despite being down a man in the last 10 minutes, Rangers were looking relatively comfortable, until the assistant referee signalled 3 minutes of injury time.
Rangers 2-2 Universidad de Chile
Chile’s domestic Clausura tournament resumed this weekend after the international break, with the pick of the weekend’s matches a battle for the top spot between second placed Universidad de Chile and first-placed Rangers.
Gustavo Lorenzetti scored La U’s opening goal against Rangers. Photo courtesy of Luciano Civelli Fans/ Twitter.The two leading teams in the Clausura came in to the match on the back of two consecutive wins, and the match promised to be a tightly contested affair. Despite taking the lead in the first half, La U had to come from behind to earn a point with a goal in injury time.Speaking after the game, La U manager Jorge Sampaoli said his team deserved more from match.
“The match gave us a first half in which La U was the superior team, where we should have got the win and we were dominating the game,” Sampaoli said. “But for the development of the game, in a difficult field, it is commendable because we always went looking (for the tie).”
La U dominated the early possession, carving up the Rangers’ defense and creating the better chances.
La U capitalized on one such chance with neat passing around the edge of the box that was capped off perfectly by Argentine playmaker Gustavo Lorenzetti who fired La U ahead in the 35th minute. Lorenzetti collected the ball on the edge of the area, played a neat one-two with Guillermo Marino before firing a left-footed shot high past the onrushing Petric in goal.
Despite their domination, La U was unable to take their lead into halftime break. Rangers’ top scorer in the Clausura, David Llanos, fired in from two yards with his first clear chance of the half. A cross was swung over from the right and although La U goalkeeper Johnny Herrera saved the initial diving header, he could not cling on to the ball and Llanos pounced to put his side level.
Rangers resumed the match after the break with the same momentum, and took the lead five minutes into the second half after a clumsy Albert Acevedo gave away a penalty. Milton Caraglio stepped up and, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, slotted the penalty away to give his team the lead.
La U pushed for the tie, and a red card to the home team in the 79th minute gave them the advantage they were looking for. Despite being down a man in the last 10 minutes, Rangers were looking relatively comfortable, until the assistant referee signalled 3 minutes of injury time.
One minute into injury time, La U’s endeavors were rewarded with an equalizing goal. Eugenio Mena looped a cross into the box from the left hand side that looked like it should have been collected comfortably by Rangers goalkeeper Nicolás Peric. The keeper was caught flat-footed, however, and was beaten to the ball by a towering Luciano Civelli who nodded the ball into the back of the net and rescued a valuable point for La U.
Sampaoli, who had brought Civelli on as a substitute in the last ten minutes celebrated wildly on the touchline. La U’s next match is the derby game against Santiago Warriors on Sept. 22.
Colo Colo 3 - 0 Huachipato
Colo Colo registered its third consecutive victory in the Clausura Sunday after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of 12th placed Huachipato. Colo Colo moved up to 4th place with 17 points, four behind league leaders Rangers and Universidad de Chile, keeping them in the playoff position.
Despite Colo Colo eventually cruising to victory, Huachipato started the livelier of the two teams, creating the clearest of the opening chances and testing Francisco Prieto in the Colo Colo goal.
Colo Colo soon began to dictate the play, and took the lead in the 15th minute through right winger Gonzalo Fierro. After neat passing in the center of the park, Rodrigo Millar dinked a lovely through ball into the right hand side of the area, which Fierro controlled with one touch, before firing an unstoppable shot across the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Despite falling behind, Huachipato continued to press for a goal, and again created the best chances either side of the half. Braian Rodríguez headed an effort narrowly wide in the 27th minute, and Nicólas Núñez came inches away from converting a cross that was played low across the six yard line after halftime.
But it was Colo Colo that scored the next goal to double their lead in the 60th minute. Striker Felipe Flores scored the goal from a narrow angle, after Mathias Vidangossy played the ball across the goal which eluded Huachipato defenders.
Colo Colo comfortably controlled the rest of the game, and added a fine final goal in injury time. Striker Mauro Olivi carried the ball under no pressure from the opposition to the left side of the area, before striking a swerving shot with the outside of his foot into the top left hand corner.
Olivi’s goal was the pick of the bunch, and it marks Colo Colo´s ninth goal in its last three league games.
Cobresal 2-1 Santiago Wanderers
Saturday’s match between Cobresal and Santiago Wanderers was viewed as an important battle to avoid relegation, and Cobresal’s victory saw the team shoot out of the danger zone. Cobresal last won a league game in July, so victory against fellow strugglers the Santiago Wanderers was seen as vital.
In a tightly contested game Cobresal took the lead in the third minute thanks to a headed goal from Miguel Angel Cuéllar. Cobresal’s poor form looked like it was going to cost them when Wanderers equalized with a powerful curling strike from Pablo Calandria. Wladimir Herrera headed Cobresal back into the lead from a corner. Cobresal held onto its lead and picked up three vital points.
Cobresal moved up to 11th place with 13 points, while its opponent is beginning to fall away in 17th place with just 7 points in the Clausura.
Unión San Felipe 3-0 La Serena
An emphatic home victory for San Felipe fired the team up to 10th in the Clausura league standings Saturday as fellow strugglers La Serena continue to look over their shoulder near the bottom of the rankings.
Javier Grbec converted a low cross in the seventh minute to give San Felipe the lead and doubled his and his team´s tally in the 24th minute, firing the ball into an open net from 10 yards. La Serena created some chances but it was San Felipe whose quick counter attack added a third goal in the 71st minute from Sebastián Páez to cap off a comfortable match for his team.
Universidad de Concepción 0-1 Iquique
Universidad de Concepción’s woeful Clausura campaign continued against Iquique Saturday as the league’s bottom team lost to an Iquique team that has won its last five league games.
A first half goal from Iquique´s Cristian Bogado was enough to see off Concepción, who, despite creating the best of the early chances, could not convert any of them. Bogado’s goal came in the 25th minute after he collected the ball in the box and slipped the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Concepción’s defeat means they prop up the bottom of the league, leveling on 7 points with the Santiago Wanderers.
O’Higgins 1-0 Cobreloa
Sunday’s match between O’Higgins and Cobreloa was a tightly contested game of relatively few chances with the home team’s early goal enough to win.
Richard Blanco scored the only goal of the game in the 8th minute, passing the ball into the net after beating Cobreloa’s goalkeeper to a ball played over the top of the defence. O’Higgins looked the more likely of the teams to score the second elusive goal, but one goal proved to be enough and propelled the team to 7th place on 15 points.
Universidad Católica 1-0 Audax Italiano
Católica played Audax Italiano Friday, with the away team having one of the worst recent records in the Clausura, having lost three and drawn two of its last five matches. But it was the home team that was given a mountain to climb in the first half after a red card to Matías Pérez in the 31st minute.
Despite being one man down, Católica gave it their all, knowing they needed to keep within touching distance of the league leaders. The Católica players were rewarded for their efforts deep into injury time when second half substitute Nicolás Trecco won his team the game with a low strike from the edge of the area.
Antofagasta 0-1 Palestino
Palestino stayed within touching distance of the Clausura league leaders after a hard-fought victory against Antofagasta in the northern Chile.
A red card on the hour mark made things difficult for Antofagasta, but Palestino players were still frustrated after wasting chances and facing last ditch defending. The away team eventually achieved the breakthrough they deserved with an emphatic penalty from Uruguayan Diego Gonzalo Cháves in the 87th minute.
Unión Española 0-0 Unión La Calera
Despite dominating possession and having the clearest goal scoring opportunities, Española had to make do with a frustrating tie against La Calera Sunday. The home team created enough chances to comfortably win the game, but La Calera’s goalkeeper Lucas Giovini put in a heroic performance to avoid the loss.
By Tom Murphy (murphy@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2012 – The Santiago Times
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