By: Luis Imana
A round match ended Melgar after they defeated Sporting Cristal 2–0 in the second leg of the playoff semifinals and qualified for the final for the national title.
When the situation deserved it, the “Rimenses” came out with the slogan of recovering overall after the 0-2 defeat in Arequipa. Pushed by the fans, the sky blue team reached the rival area; However, the great performance in defence, especially in the case of Alec Deneumostier, prevented any attempt crystal when advancing the marker.
Likewise, Roberto Mosquera Two urgent changes had to be made in the first half as Joao Grimaldo and Yoshimar Yotún left through injury and Irven Ávila and Leandro Sosa came in in their place.
There was a golden opportunity early in the period to break the 0-0 lead with a shot from Diego Buonanotte; however, his shot crashed with the stick.
Unlike the ‘Rimenses’, the ‘Domino’ gave a proof of effectiveness at 52′ when Bernhard Kuesta received a cross into the penalty area from Martín Pérez Guedes to put the first of the game with a boot.
The Red-Blacks’ goal with the ‘9’ gave the guest the motivation to start the attack and get the Sky Blues against the ropes. Back then, Alejandro Duarte made several appearances under the three sticks.
However, the Sporting Cristal goalkeeper was unable to prevent the second goal Melgar at 84′ after Luis Iberico decided the game with a great shot. This was the third goal the ’16’ Rot-Schwarz scored against the ‘Rimenses’ in the last two games.
In this way, Pablo Lavallén’s leaders finished the semi-finals with a 4-0 aggregate score and are playing another final for the national title after six long years.
After losing the last two games of the Torneo Clausura, Melgar was able to regain that great version that he has enjoyed in most of Liga 1 and the Copa Sudamericana.
“The aim of the team was to go out and look for the game, we didn’t come to throw ourselves back but they definitely made it a bit difficult for us, they went out to look for it but satisfied with the effort of my teammates and how we approached the game from start to finish,” explained deneumosierVoted best player of the game.
The ‘Domino’ has a few days’ rest because on Wednesday (3:00 p.m.) he will play his first final against him Alliance of Lima at the UNSA Monumental Stadium, while the second leg will be played at Matute on Saturday (8:00 p.m.). Melgar announced that the duel in Arequipa will only be played with the local fans.
The word
Pablo Lavallén, Melgar technician
“We played two very good matches in my opinion against the rival who played best in this tournament. Apart from the fact that the winner was Alianza, Cristal seems to me to be the one who showed the best football of the tournament.