Deportes Tolima and Atlético Nacional tied 1-1 in the first leg of the final of the BetPlay II-2024 League, this Wednesday, December 18, in a close match, which was played in the city of Ibagué, exactly at the Manuel stadium Murillo Toro.
In a mistake by the Tolimense defense, forward Kevin Viveros pressed, ‘stole’ the ball, faced it and took a powerful shot that was impossible to stop for William Cuesta, who rebounded. There, the one who was attentive was Dairon Asprilla to score the first goal, in the 35th minute.
The ‘purslanes’ comfortably dominated the first half between attempts to approach the Tolima goal, a trend that was reversed in the first minutes of the second half, when the ‘vinotinto y oro’ went ahead with constant arrivals at the ‘paisa’ goal.
To this new development of the party, It was added that Atlético Nacional lost Sebastián Guzmán due to expulsion after a double yellow cardwhich opened even more spaces for the local’s incisive attack. Therefore, it was a matter of time before equality arrived.
Forward Gustavo Adrián Ramírez crystallized Tolima’s attack with a cross shot in the 75th minute to inflate the nets and make it 1-1. Now, there was a lot of talk about the expulsion of the midfielder from the Antioquia team.
Official Twitter of Atlético Nacional
In this regard, several referee analysts spoke out, starting with ‘The Central VAR’. In his official ‘X’ account, he stated that, in his opinion, it was not for Sebastián Guzmán to say ‘goodbye’ to the game.
“An angle and a repetition changes everything. Plays that show how difficult it is to referee. Guzmán slips and avoids colliding with his rival as much as possible, in fact he passes by, at most missing, but not for a second yellow“he stated.
What Betancur saw from his position // what really happened
🔎 An angle and a repetition changes everything for you. Plays that show how difficult it is to referee. Guzmán slips and avoids colliding with his rival as much as possible, in fact he passes by, at most he is missing, but not 2nd yellow ❌ pic.twitter.com/RkVAfxfK3c
— EL VAR CENTRAL (Andrés) (@ElVarCentral) December 19, 2024
Now, this concept contrasted with that given by another analyst such as José Borda. “CORRECT RED. Sebastián Guzmán, from Atlético Nacional, was sent off for two yellow cardsbeing reprimanded, made this reckless tackle on Junior Hernández, from Deportes Tolima. Referee Betancur was right when he showed the red card,” he said.
Likewise, the decision has already been made and the coach, Efraín Juárez, will not be able to count on Sebastián Guzmán for the second leg final of the BetPlay II-2024 League, to be played next Sunday, December 22, at 6:00 pmat the Atanasio Girardot stadium.
