San Pedro Sula, Honduras – Marathon defeated Motagua 1-0 in the ‘Emes’ classic at the Yankel Rosenthal stadium today, securing a victory with a goal from Messiniti. The win strengthens MarathonS position in the Honduran National League as they pursue league leader Olimpia.
The match, played on Matchday 16, saw Marathon overcome a challenging opponent in Motagua, a team featuring former player Rubio castillo making his debut against his previous club. Castillo, Motagua’s historic scorer, acknowledged his past ties to the blue eagles but emphasized his commitment to Marathon, stating, “I left a lot of friends there, maybe I didn’t turn out as I should because of the board issue, but I respect and love the institution a lot for how they treated me. Now I owe it to Marathón and if I score a goal, I’ll see if I’ll celebrate.”
Marathon coach Pablo Lavallen faced the game knowing a win would close the gap on Olimpia, the current national champion. Motagua entered the match following draws in recent city derbies – 0-0 against Real España and 2-2 against Olimpia.
Key absences impacted both teams; Marathon was without Brian Farioli, recovering from meniscus surgery for 7-8 months, while Motagua was missing Oscar Discua, Carlos Melendez, and Sub 21 player Mathias vazquez due to injury.
Historically, the two clubs have met 249 times, with Motagua holding the advantage with 94 wins to Marathon’s 75, and 79 draws. Motagua has scored 330 goals to Marathon’s 297 in their head-to-head matchups.
Match Details:
* Game: Marathon vs.Motagua
* Reason: Matchday 16
* Stadium: Yankel Rosenthal, San Pedro Sula
* Time: 3:00 PM
* Broadcast: TVC
* Referee: Raúl Castro
