Atlético Nacional defeated América de Cali 2-0, on date 15 of the I-2022 League. The purslane were precise in their attack, with goals from Danovis Banguero and Jefferson Duque, the purslane team secured their qualification for the semi-final homers and, incidentally, regained the leadership of the table.
Under an atmosphere of finals, Nacional went out to look for the opposite goal, at minute 4, the locals generated two opportunities that passed very close to the scarlet goal, Joel Graterol taking a shot from Danovis Banguero with a changed hand and, following a corner kick, a shot by Andrés Andrade was rejected by the Valle del Cauca defense.
About the 12th minute, Danovis Banguero opened the scoring, following a collective play that was born from a pass from Giovanni Moreno with a heel over the midfield to Dorlan Pabón, who entered the area on the right side of the field. The former Monterrey filtered the ball into the heart of the area, Andrés Andrade took the ball, but handed it over to Danovis, who came from the left sector and with a cross shot, the ball went to the lower right corner.
After the goal, Nacional continued attacking the opposite field, especially on the right side, the one that left more space for their rival. At minute 20, Sebastián Gómez from medium distance, demanded goalkeeper Graterol.
At minute 22, a hand from a player from America, the VAR calls the referee Jhon Ospina, who did not take long to sanction the foul. At minute 24, Jefferson Duque changed the penalty for Nacional’s second goal, with this goal, the man from Antioquia reached 90 goals in 207 games with the purslane shirt.
Minutes passed and although América regained control of the ball, he was not deep in attack. Nacional gave way to the game, without neglecting the attack.
At minute 38 and following a pass from Giovanni Moreno, the ball fell to Dorlan Pabón on the right side of the field, calmly defining Graterol’s exit, scoring the third goal for the purslane. However, the referee Ospina annulled the action following going to VAR. The goal was not validated due to an attacking foul by Giovanni Moreno, who was reprimanded.
In injury time, Daniel Mantilla had the third, following a collective play. The shot of the Santandereana passed near the visitor’s portico.
In the complementary stage, América de Cali made a change, Juan Camilo Portilla entered instead of Joider Micolta. Compared to the first half, the pace was not as intense, although Nacional gave the game a go despite their rival’s control of the ball.
At minute 12, Daniel Mantilla from the left sector finished off the goal, but goalkeeper Graterol managed to control the ball without problems. At minute 15 Luis Sánchez entered the visit instead of Didier Pino. At minute 20, Nacional approached the rival area once more with a shot from Giovanni Moreno, who passed very close.
At minute 27, Nacional made a double substitution, Jefferson Duque and Andrés Andrade left, and Jarlan Barrera and Baldomero Perlaza entered. Around minute 35, América approached the opposite goal with a shot by Carlos Sierra, but the ball went wide of Kevin Mier’s goal.
At minute 40, Nacional made two more changes, entering Hayen Palacios and Ruyery Blanco, instead of Dorlan Pabón and Giovanni Moreno.
In the end, Nacional was a team that took advantage of the options and knew how to intelligently manage the game once morest an America team that never competed.
On the next date, Atlético Nacional visits Águilas Doradas in Rionegro, while América de Cali hosts Deportivo Cali at the Pascual Guerrero.
Juan Camilo Alvarez Serrano
FUTBOLRED Correspondent
Medellin
En Twitter: @juanchoserran8