Benjamin Chandia

Perfect day for Deportes Santa Cruz. In their duel valid for date 3 of the Primera B national tournament, the team coached by Hernán Peña won 1-2 over Curicó Unidos and asserts itself at the top of the table.

Of course, the match – played at the La Granja stadium – was not without complications for the Santa Cruzans, since it was the local team that opened the scoring.

A loss of the ball after an offensive play allowed midfielder Diego Rojas to score with a tight shot that goalkeeper Gonzalo Flores could not stop. It was minute 6, and it seemed that the night would not be happy.

What’s more, on two occasions, Curicó had the second goal, but the defense and the visiting goalkeeper prevented said celebration. And, when the first half was closing, Santa Cruz concocted a good risky action after recovering from the rival’s start, an occasion where Kevin Medel was left with space and precise distance to beat Luis Santalices. Thus, with the score 1-1 they went to half-time.

In the complement, the Unionist team stood up well, asserted itself at the back and nullified the attacking presence of the Curicans. Furthermore, when the visiting team was playing better, Francisco Ayala scored a great goal (64′) to put an end to the actions and win the game.

The three points traveled to the Colchagua valley and Santa Cruz remains in second place in the classification with 7 units in the company of Barnechea, two points less than the leader Rangers de Talca.

REACTIONS

“It is a very important victory, a very difficult game, we suffered it. In the first half it was difficult for us, we were able to achieve equality in a counterattack and in the second we dared a little more, we gathered people in the middle to free the wings and our side, who has good technique, was able to achieve the 2-1 score,” pointed out the team captain, Jesús Pino.

Today, Santa Cruz is at the top of the rankings, something that Pino is excited about. “That’s what we work for, but we have to continue, the key is to maintain and never trust ourselves. The team is united.”

For his part, the scorer of the winning goal, Francisco Ayala, stated that, after the partial tie, “the match was worked harder in our favor, the goal scored and we were left with the victory that we wanted so much.”

Meanwhile, coach Hernán Peña commented that “we played a correct game, the collective effort gave us benefits for a game where we faced a top team.”

Furthermore, he indicated that what is coming “is not going to be easy, but we must insist on the work, that the demands within the squad are close to the dispute for a position.”

Finally, Peña stressed that “we are achieving success, but there is still a long way to go. The path is the most important thing to reach the goal.”

The next match for the union team will be against Deportes Recoleta as a local team. Originally scheduled for Friday, the duel will be rescheduled for Sunday afternoon again in Curicó.

Match Sheet

United Curico (1): Luis Santelices; John Salas, Matías Ormazábal, Matías Pérez, Kennet Lara (76′, Diego Muñoz); Matías Ballini (72′, Cristián Bustamante), Juan Méndez (45′, Diego Urzúa), Diego Rojas; Kevin Harbottle (66′, Felipe Ortíz), Sebastián Parada, David Escalante. DT: Francisco Bozán.

Sports Santa Cruz (2): Gonzalo Flowers; Francisco Ayala, Gonzalo Lauler, Jesus Pine, Jose Navarrete; Camilo Rencoret, Kevin Medel (69th, Jaime Gaete), Matthias Santos (88th, Enzo Fernandez); Christopher Ojeda (88′, Christian Duma), Diego Gonzalez, Dilan Salgado (90’+6′, Jose Fernandez). DT: Hernan Rock.

Referees: Francisco Soriano, Jean Araya, Nicolás Medina, Cristian Galaz.

Cautioned: Pérez, Rojas, Bustamante (CUR); Pino, Medel, Navarrete, Gaete (DSC).

Goals: 1-0, 6′, Reds; 1-1, 45′, Medel; 1-2, 64′, Ayala.

Estadio: The Farm, Curicó.

Public: 3,366 spectators.