A double from winger José Enamorado and the same from attacker Bryan Castrillón this Friday brought the team closer to their eleventh Colombian League title. Junior of Barranquilla, who beat 3-0 against Sports Tolima in the first leg of the final Tournament Completion. Before a crowd that filled the Metropolitan Stadium of Barranquilla, Tiburón subdued its rival from the beginning to the end of the match and took a very large advantage that brought it closer to the title at the expense of an opponent that, despite being the best team of the year in Colombia, today left a very fragile image.
The hosts opened the scoring very quickly, in the 4th minute, when Paraguayan Guillermo Pavia filtered a pass to the wing for Enamorado, who got rid of two rivals and took a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that was impossible for Brazilian goalkeeper Neto Volpi to save. The Barranquilla team, led by Uruguayan Alfredo Arias, came out to overwhelm their rival and almost extended the lead when midfielder Jesús Rivas went one-on-one with Volpi, who saved the shot.
Tolima responded and was close to tying when winger Yhormar Hurtado sent a cross that was headed by forward Adrián Parra and saved, with effort, by Uruguayan goalkeeper Mauro Silveira. The 2-0 came in the 36th minute in a collective play in which the full-back Jhonier Guerrero, the midfielder Yimmi Chará, Enamorado and Paiva participated, which enabled Castrillón to send the ball to the back with a shot that went between Volpi’s legs. Junior maintained the momentum and extended the lead two minutes later when midfielder Didier Moreno sent a long pass to Enamorado, who chipped the ball before the Brazilian goalkeeper came out and celebrated his second goal of the night.
Sebastián Guzmán leads Tolima in the second half
In the second half, Tolima took possession of the ball under the leadership of midfielder Sebastián Guzmán, who entered after the break, but could not break the local defense. The visiting team, led by Lucas González, played closer and closer to Silveira’s goal, but their fuel ran out when Guzmán attacked veteran forward Teófilo Gutiérrez without the ball and referee Carlos Betancur sent him off in the 66th minute.
TECHNICAL SHEET
3 – Junior: Mauro Silveira; Jhonier Guerrero, Lucas Monzón, Jermein Peña, Yeison Suárez; Didier Moreno (m.78, Fabián Ángel), Jesús Rivas (m.69, Carlos Esparragoza), Yimmi Chará (m.79, Steven Rodríguez); Bryan Castrillón (m.69, Joel Canchimbo), José Enamorado and Guillermo Paiva (m.59, Teófilo Gutiérrez).
0 – Sports Tolima: Neto Volpi, Yhormar Hurtado, Marlon Torres, Anderson Angulo, Junior Hernández (m.46, Samuel Velásquez); Brayan Rovira (m.46, Sebastián Guzmán), Juan Pablo Nieto, Jerson González (m.87, Ever Valencia), Kevin Pérez (m.63, Juan Pablo Torres), Mauricio González, and Adrián Parra (m.72, Cristian Trujillo).
Goals: 1-0, José Enamorado (m. 4); 2-0, Bryan Castrillón (m. 36); 3-0, José Enamorado (m. 38)
Referee: Carlos Betancur. He sent off Sebastián Guzmán in the 66th minute and cautioned Adrián Parra and Kevin Pérez.
Incidents: First leg of the final of the Colombia Finalization Tournament, played at the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla.
After that play, Junior regained control of the ball and Tolima held on to avoid conceding more goals and try to overcome the 3-0 deficit in the second leg, which will be played next Tuesday at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium in Ibagué.
