Rodrigo Castillo In the 62nd minute he sealed the goal that was enough for Lanús to defeat 1-0 University of Chile and qualify for the final of the 24th edition of the South American Cup12 years after winning his first title. Lanús will play the final, this November 22 in Asunción, against Atlético Mineiro, who beat Independiente del Valle 3-1 on Tuesday and dominated the series with an overall 4-2. Rodrigo Castillo was Granate’s hero in the semifinals because a week ago he scored a double in the first leg that ended 2-2 in the Chilean capital.
The match on the Lanús court ended with a fight for the U, champion of the Sudamericana in 2011. Lanús, which was also runner-up in the tournament in 2020, is seeking the eighth title in its history. It has five national ones (Primera División 2007 and 2016, Copa Bicentenario 2016, Supercopa Argentina 2016 and Copa Juan Domingo Perón 1955) and two international ones (Copa Sudamericana 2013 and Copa Conmebol 1996).
The match was full of tension and a hard tackle by Agustín Cardozo on the knee of Javier Altamirano with just 4 minutes ended with a yellow card determined by judge Alexis Herrera and endorsed by the VAR, led by Ángel Arteaga. In the 11th minute there was another controversy when O Castillo controlled a long ball from Carlos Izquierdoz with his chest, so that Eduardo Salvio then served Marcelino Moreno to define against Gabriel Castellón. But the VAR overturned the initial decision of referee Alexis Herrera. Castillo had a chance in the 30th minute with a shot that went wide in the last chance before the break.
Zaldivia (University of Chile) was sent off by the referee, Alexis Herrera
In the second half, Universidad de Chile suffered with a shot by Castillo himself that deflected when it was destined for the net and in the 51st minute the visitor deposited a cross shot by Felipe Salomini into the Granate goal after a rude error by goalkeeper Nahuel Losada at the start. Lanús capitalized on that alert and in the 62nd minute a counterattack administered by Marcelino Moreno led to a counterattack pass to Castillo who, after eluding goalkeeper Gabriel Calderón in speed, pushed the ball into the back of the net. The visiting team’s claim for a handball by Eduardo Salvio at the beginning of the action was not considered by Ángel Arteaga, who accompanied Herrera’s determination in validating the goal.
TECHNICAL SHEET
1 – Lanus: Nahuel Losada; Gonzalo Pérez, Carlos Izquierdoz, José Canale, Sasha Marcich; Agustín Medina (d.93, Ezequiel Muñoz), Agustín Cardozo; Eduardo Salvio (m.82, Franco Watson), Marcelino Moreno (m.85, Alexis Canelo), Ramiro Carrera (m.82, Armando Méndez) and Rodrigo Castillo (m.85, Walter Bou).
0 – University of Chile: Gabriel Castellón; Fabián Hormazabal, Matías Zaldivia, Franco Calderón (m.90, Rodrigo Contreras), Felipe Salomoni (m.70, Matías Sepúlveda); Charles Aránguiz, Israel Poblete, Javier Altamirano, Lucas Di Yorio; Maximiliano Guerrero (m.75, Leandro Fernández) and Nicolás Guerra.
Goal: 1-0, Rodrigo Castillo (m. 62)
Referee: Venezuelan Alexis Herrera sent off Matías Zaldivia (m.98) and cautioned Agustín Cardozo, Lautaro Acosta, Fabián Hormazábal and Leandro Fernández.
Incidents: Second leg of the Copa Sudamericana semifinals played at the Ciudad de Lanús-Néstor Díaz Pérez Stadium, in Buenos Aires.
The final stretch of the match was with a Universidad de Chile with attempts but without clarity and a Lanús that opted for the counterattack but lacked the final shot to seal the story with the second goal. In the final, Lanús will face ‘Galo’ again for the fifth time: all the previous opportunities were in finals, with a favorable balance for the Brazilians with three wins and a draw. Those from Belo Horizonte won the 1997 Conmebol Cup and the 2014 Recopa Sudamericana.
