Ceara sealed this Wednesday in Avellaneda a perfect campaign in Group G of the South American Cup by advancing to the round of 16 with a full six wins in as many games which he completed by defeating Independent by 0-2.
Given the 18 points of the Brazilian team, the Argentines barely got 12, far from Knight Generalthird with 4, and La Guaira, bottom with one.
Goals from Rodrigo Lindoso and John Mendoza gave Ceará victory over Independiente, who needed to win by two goals difference to keep the lead and advance to the next round.
The first stages of the match reflected the needs of each team: Independiente dominated the ball, braiding one play after another and imprinting great intensity on their actions, while Ceará took advantage of any recovery to come out with great speed on the counterattack.
Thus came the first big chance of the game, a progression down the left wing by the Brazilian team that ended with a deflected shot by Vinícius in the small area.
As the minutes passed, Ceará began to control the ball more and stifled Independiente’s associative game, which began to get impatient and hang up centers without any danger.
After several exchanges of blows, Ceará scored the first goal of the game, just before the break: a free kick from the left ended with a dead ball in the area, which Rodrigo Lindoso picked up to score the 0-1.
The entry of Leandro Fernández and Tomás Pozzo revitalized the game of the Red Devils in the second half, managing to lock Ceará in their field for long stretches of the game.
However, the Brazilian team kept their cool and knew how to play with Independiente’s nerves, especially through their three attackers (Mendoza, Vinícius and Lima), who were a constant threat to the goal defended by Sebastián Sosa.
Focused on attack and accused of great physical and emotional exhaustion, Independiente was not able to defend Ceará’s last counterattack, which ended with a shot from Mendoza for the final 0-2 in the 90th minute.
With this pass to the round of 16 of the South American, Ceará will try to compensate for its poor performance in the Brazilian League, where it is in nineteenth place with only 5 points in 6 games.
