Ecuador achieved a hard-fought 1-1 draw on Tuesday in his visit to Lima and postponed, with 25 points, his very possible classification to the Qatar World Cup 2022, while Peru added 20 and is in the fifth position that gives the right to play the World Cup playoffs.
The goals of the intense game played at the National Stadium in Lima were scored by Ecuadorian striker Michael Estrada, at 2 minutes, and by Peruvian playmaker Edison Flores, at 69.
Ecuador entered the field of Nacional convinced that it was defining its classification against a rival that presented very important casualties such as striker Gianluca Lapadula, who was unable to recover from an injury, and creative Christian Cueva, suspended due to an accumulation of warnings.
The visitors’ offensive bet surprised the Peruvian players who, determined to handle the game calmly, saw how their goal was knocked down just two minutes into the game.
After a long pass from Félix Torres, Estrada beat defender Alexander Callens, who failed in a calculation to clear a high cross, and overcame goalkeeper Pedro Gallese with a subtle touch.
Surprised, the Peruvians went to the front with more momentum than order, but focusing their game on the right sector to seek partnership between Luis Advíncula and André Carrillo, who were intermittent and imprecise during the first half.
Despite this, Peru had an option after 4 minutes, when a header from defender Carlos Zambrano narrowly missed a corner kick.
Beyond that, Ecuador continued to show a solid defense and led by an unbalanced Gonzalo Plata caused anxiety in the Peruvian field, to the point that Alan Franco could well increase the count with a shot that forced Advíncula to intervene.
Peru, meanwhile, abused short touches to the wings and without much depth, although Carrillo sent a shot on goal that was also blocked by Piero Hincapié.
Renato Tapia (Peru) disputes the ball with Piero Hincapié, from Ecuador
Having defended reliably on home turf, Ecuador took the lead again in the final minutes of the first half and had another clear option in the 45th minute, when Moises Caicedo sent a high shot just over the Peruvian goal.
Determined to go all out, Peru coach Ricardo Gareca swapped Ormeño and García at the start of the second half to bring in midfielders Christopher Gonzáles and Edison Flores, with Carrillo taking the forward position.
With greater speed and offensive volume, Yoshimar Yotún soon forced goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez to his maximum effort with a powerful shot from the edge of the area, while Ecuador replied with a cross shot from the always dangerous Estrada.
At minute 69, a play came from the right that the entered striker Alex Valera fought and triggered a center by Advíncula that was connected with a header by Edison Flores to even the score and make the Peruvian fans explode with emotion.
Although the locals went with everything to try to keep the three points, the Ecuadorians maintained their solid resistance against the attempts led by Flores, who failed to break a parity that gave justice to a game played with a lot of nerve.
In the seventeenth and penultimate day of the South American qualifiers, which will be played on March 24, Peru will visit Uruguay, and Ecuador will visit the already eliminated Paraguay team.
DATA SHEET
Peru-Ecuador 1-1
1 – Peru: Pedro Gallese; Luis Advíncula, Alexander Callens, Carlos Zambrano, Miguel Trauco; Renato Tapia (m.93, Wilder Cartagena), Yoshimar Yotun, Sergio Peña (m.56, Alex Valera); André Carrillo, Raziel García (m.46, Edison Flores) and Santiago Ormeño (m.46, Christopher Gonzáles).
Coach: Ricardo Gareca
1 – Ecuador: Hernan Galindez; Angelo Preciado, Félix Torres, Piero Hincapié, Pervis Estupiñán; Alan Franco (m.89, Michael Carcelén), Moisés Caicedo, Carlos Gruezo; Gonzalo Plata, Ayrton Preciado (m.90, Xavier Arreaga) and Michael Estrada (m.80, Jordy Caicedo).
Coach: Gustavo Alfaro
Goals: 0-1, Michael Estrada (m. 2); 1-1, Edison Flores (d. 69)
Referee: The Brazilian Wilton Sampaio. He showed a yellow card to Alan Franco, Raziel García, Moisés Caicedo, Luis Advíncula and Gonzalo Plata.
Incidents: Last match of the sixteenth day of the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup played at the National Stadium in Lima
