It cannot be verified, but for many fans and even analysts, Universidad de Chile began to lose the Superclásico there, before the five minutes of the game, when Cristián Palacios, as happened in the first round at the Monumental, missed a penalty kick . The blues’ own coach, Diego López, said following the game that his team had fallen due to his own mistakes… was he also talking regarding this?
Anyway, let’s rewind: minute 1 of the match, a foul in the middle of the field for the Blues, a rainy cross from Israel Poblete and Esteban Pavez hit the ball with his hand just at the door of the area, on the line. In the first instance, Piero Maza called a free kick, but following the insistence of the university players and following the VAR call, he changed his decision: penalty.
Then, conspicuously, Cristián Palacios took responsibility. Striking because the Uruguayan striker, a former Spanish Union, kicked three penalties in the first round once morest Colo Colo: the first was held by Brayan Cortés, but the referee ordered it to be repeated. The second, he crashed it once morest the left upright and began to squander any reaction that the “U” might have —they finally lost that game 4 to 1—; the third, he scored, when they were already 0 to 4 down.
Just like on his second shot, Palacios chose his right hand and missed it. The ball hit the post and went away. His companions mightn’t believe it. They had the chance to start the Superclásico with high morale, but they had to row once once more from behind. And the worst was known just a few hours ago: the Uruguayan was not the one designated to kick him.
Marcelo Díaz Almonacid, a journalist who covers the blues on TNT Sports, told the firm: the player who had to kick the penalty was Ronnie Fernández, captain of the “U”. But the Uruguayan, probably knowing that he might clear his name following what happened at the Monumental a few months ago, asked for the ball and Fernández finally accepted.
“When he caught the ball we told him a couple of things, to get him out of the situation. Brayan (Cortés) told him ‘don’t forget regarding the other game’ and I told him that I was inviting him to a barbecue, ”Maximilian Falcón acknowledged later, in an interview with TNT Sports.
For his part, Diego López did not want to add more firewood: “I leave it to the players. I had seen the penalties from the first leg, but that goes much further. I think they know who the kickers are, sometimes they look at each other and they already know. Now Palacios threw it, he missed it and that’s it, there’s no need to turn back and start talking”.
