Monday, October 31, 2016

Silveira show as Nacional stay top

Week 10 in Uruguay's Primera División held no big surprises. Most of the favourites filled their role nicely and were victorious. Among them: Nacional, Danubio and Peñarol.

Ligüera shows his class again in Nacional's win over River (Photo: nacional.uy).
Hugo Silveira was the key figure for Nacional this weekend. In a 3-1 win over River Plate on Sunday evening, the striker assisted on all three goals. The Tricolor was up 2-0 early through goals from Kevin Ramírez (13') and Sebastián Fernández (24'). Inside a packed Gran Parque Central, the home team profited from an early red card for the visitors. Fernando Gorriarán went showering early after a stunningly poor tackle on Viudez after just ten minutes. 

Domination continued in the second half and Martín Ligüera made his presence felt instantly after coming on. While his first magnificent attempt went stopped after he left the whole defense stranded behind him, the second try worked out for him. Following a strong run and precise cross from Silveira, Ligüera was there to head it home for a three-goal lead. 

Despite Mathías Saavedra getting a goal back via penalty three minutes later (74'), the win was never under much threat. A good save from Esteban Conde later, the match was a success. Nacional stay on top of the Apertura table after their eigth win in ten games. 

Danubio following closely

Equally successful is just one team: Danubio. The bottom feeders from last year have recovered tremendously and added another win this weekend. Against Boston River, they managed to showcase their comeback qualities, winning 1-2 after coming from behind. Pablo Ceppelini gave the promoted team a first half lead (29') with a shot from the edge of the area. 

While Danubio had already been the better team throughout the first half, collecting the lionshare of opportunities. They finally made it count after a good hour. Damián Malrechauffe's effort was saved by Boston's goalkeeper, but was it in front of or behind the line? The replay angle was not highly conclusive.
A goal or not? 
Six minutes from the end, Joaquín Ardaiz decided the game with yet another weird goal. The player was already on the ground, but somehow managed to get a leg to the ball near him. The push was enough to take it past goalkeeper and line. Conclusively, you might want to add, this time around.

Peñarol discover goalscoring form

Peñarol have celebrated their second win in a row and third of the season. Yellow and black managed to beat Sud América 4-1 away from home. Things were looking grim early on for Peñarol yet again, when they fell down 1-0 through a Gonzalo Camargo strike after 17 minutes. This time around, Fernando Curutchet's men found a way back at an important time. Right before the break, Junior Arias of all people equalised for the visitors. 

After struggling to find the net for the opening 7 weeks, the striker has now scored three goals in as many games. It was the start of a strong second half that saw Peñarol score another three. Nicolás Albarracin (65'), Diego Rossi (75') and Nicolás Dibble (86') all got on the scoresheet later on. Not only does this win give their team the well-needed points. Additionally, a comeback win allows them to grow their confidence that is at a low seeing their 12-point gap to archrivals Nacional on top.

Elsewhere around the league

Montevideo Wanderers held onto third place in the table despite a 0-0 draw against Plaza Colonia. Liverpool, that could have jumped past them, lost their own game to Fénix, 1-0. Matias Mirabaje scored his second goal of the season for the home team.

Defensor Sporting needed a last minute winner from Facundo Castro to beat Rampla Juniors away. Racing convinced early on, bagging three quick goals away to Cerro. The home team nearly came back through two penalties from Maureen Franco and Pablo Caballero. It remained 2-3 at the end. 

Villa Española stay bottom of the league after a 1-1 draw with Juventud. Pablo Silva equalised for Villa in the second half after Leandro Zapze had given the home team the lead early on. 

0 comments:

Post a Comment