Guayaquil (Ecuador), Feb 23 (EFE).- The attackers Erick Castillo and Carlos Garcés, who entered in the second half, were decisive for the 2-0 victory this Wednesday of the Ecuadorian Barcelona over the Peruvian Universitario de Deportes, which was uphill in their aspiration to continue in the Copa Libertadores.
The goals for the local victory were from Castillo, at minute 60, and Garcés, at 80.
The second half and the changes made by the Barcelona coach, the Argentine Fabián Bustos, served to improve the team’s performance and to break the defensive lock that the Peruvian team had.
Castillo and Garcés gave a different tone of play for Barcelona to rediscover the victory in the Copa Libertadores by playing at home, and to obtain an advantage that could be decisive, if you think about the third qualifying phase of the tournament.
Although Barcelona dominated the actions in the first half, it was unsuccessful due to the lack of goals, while Universitario de Deportes managed to defend itself, taking refuge in corner kicks and throwing the ball to the sides.
Barcelona dedicated itself to stringing together offensive plays from the beginning of the game, especially on the right side with the contribution of Byron Castillo, Emmanuel Martínez and Gabriel Cortéz, but all that dominance lacked precision in the final shot.
The volume of play and protagonism practically came from Barcelona, which also showed defensive imbalances, but which were not taken advantage of by the visitor, who dedicated himself to defending his goal.
While the Peruvian team came out well and with an undefeated goal at the end of the first half, the locals retired at halftime with great physical wear.
Anxiety and desperation led to confusion among the attacking midfielders, who after the restart of the game tried to score with shots from long range, but without directing José Carvallo’s goal, so Bustos made the changes in a timely manner.
The goal came thanks to the opportunism of Castillo who managed to deflect the trajectory of the ball over goalkeeper Carvallo’s mark, after a free kick from the left side, executed by the Argentine Emmanuel Martínez.
Castillo was key in the second half, he left the opposing defenders behind on the right flank, he served a pass from close range, which Garcés arrived at the right time to finish off from close range and at will, at minute 80.
– Datasheet:
2. Barcelona: Javier Burrai; Byron Castillo, Darío Aimar, Luca Sosa, Leonel Quiñónez (m.69, Jonathan Perlaza); Leonai Souza, Michael Carcelén (m.63, Bruno Piñatares), Emmanuel Martínez, Cristian Penilla (m.69, Adonis Preciado); Gabriel Cortéz (m.57, Erick Castillo) and Gonzalo Mastriani (m.63, Carlos Garcés).
Coach: Fabian Bustos.
0. University of Sports: José Carvallo; Aldo Corzo, Federico Alonso, Nelinho Quina, Nelson Cabanillas; Ángel Cayetano, Gerson Barreto (m.66, Jorge Murrugarra), Piero Quispe (m.72, Rafael Guarderas); Roberto Villamarín (m.66, Joao Villamarín), Alex Valera (m.78, Alexander Succar) and Luis Urruti.
Coach: Álvaro Gutiérrez.
Goals: 1-0, m.60: Erick Castillo. 2-0, m.80: Carlos Garces.
Referee: José Argote, from Venezuela, admonished Quiñónez, Corzo, B. Castillo, Alonso, Cayetano.
Incidents: First leg of the second preliminary phase of the Libertadores, played at the Monumental stadium “Banco Pichincha”, before some 32,000 fans, within 60% of the capacity allowed by the covid-19 pandemic.
(c) EFE Agency
