The Sports Tolima equaled 2-2 this Wednesday at home with the America Mineiro in the fifth day of Group D of the Libertadores Cupa result with which he postpones his classification to the round of 16 and forces him to define his pass on the last day at the home of Atlético Mineiro.
The visitors went ahead with goals from winger Marlon and center back Iago Maidana, from a penalty, but before the end of the first half the hosts equalized with goals from winger Anderson Plata and striker Michael Rangel.
With this result, the Colombians are second with eight points, the same as the leader Atlético Mineiro, who will host Independiente del Valle on Thursday, third with five points, while Coelho is last, and is already eliminated, with two.
The Vinotinto y Oro went out to overwhelm their rival but had to row against the current because the Brazilian team opened the scoring in the 6th minute in a play in which the ball bounced several times in the area until it was left to the side Marlon, who scored with a very strong shot impossible to stop for the Ecuadorian Alexander Domínguez.
The locals continued to attack and were a steamroller that did not achieve their goal, despite shots on goal by Rangel, Andrés Ibargüen and Anderson Plata that went wide or were saved by Jalison.
América was met with a penalty, because center back José Moya shot down Almeida in the area, and in minute 26 Maidana, with a calculated shot, sent the ball into the back of the net.
Tolima lost the spark of the opening minutes but managed to discount in the 39th minute when midfielder Brayan Rovira sent a deep pass to Plata, which he received only in the area and overcame Jalison’s resistance.
The goal gave the pijao team momentum, which equalized before the break in another play in which winger Jonathan Marulanda received in the area and enabled Rangel, who sent the ball to the back of the net under the goal.
Many spaces in the final moments of the game
In the second half, América Mineiro organized themselves and hindered Tolima’s offensive work, which did not have the clarity of the first few minutes, but did not suffer much in defense either.
The closing of the match was marked by the spaces left by both teams. The locals tried with all their weapons to make it 3-2 with Juan Fernando Caicedo, who came on in the final minutes, and the visitors tried to win to stay alive.
The clearest was a shot from medium distance by Gustavinho that crashed into the post in the 86th minute, just moments after entering, but in the end the score did not move.
Tolima will define their classification next Wednesday as a visitor against Atlético Mineiro, while Coelho will judge Independiente del Valle.
