Boca Juniors On Wednesday, the team calmed the storm caused by the multiple absences in its squad with a laborious 0-0 draw in its visit to the Ecuadorian Independent of the Valleyin the round of 16 of the South American CupWith a mix of starters, substitutes and youngsters, the Xeneixe team showed its greatness in international tournaments, stood firm in defense and even created chances to win the match, so in the rematch next Wednesday it anticipated a wink.
At the start of the match, Independiente del Valle managed to overcome the Argentine team’s defensive system, and on one occasion goalkeeper Sergio Romero blocked a violent shot by Renato Ibarra. The local team continued to search for the opposing goal, but little by little they began to lose their game, both due to their anxiety to open the scoring and due to the defensive order that Boca proposed.
The Xeneixe team found the spaces to attack and threatened Moisés Ramírez’s goal with a free kick from Julián Ceballos, which was blocked by the goalkeeper; and in another attack, the local goalkeeper anticipated the visitors’ chance to shoot.
Miguel Merentiel was unable to get the ball into the Ecuadorian goal, he grabbed the ball and headed to the left, when he was alone in front of the goalkeeper he shot to the side, after a great run with the ball controlled by the Peruvian Luis Advíncula as the first half ended.
Read also
Boca returned to the second half determined to take the lead, which they almost achieved with a quick counterattack orchestrated by Merentiel, but Ramírez deflected the trajectory of a shot by Zeballos that was heading towards goal.
Independiente responded with a cross in the form of a shot that Romero managed to block at the back of the field. Substitute Jeison Medina received a precise cross from Ibarra, but his header went wide. Ramírez again beat Merentiel in the one-on-one, when he blocked the Uruguayan striker’s shot with his legs.
DATA SHEET
0 – Independent of the Valley: Moses Ramirez; Matias Fernandez, Richard Schunke, Mateo Carabajal, Beder Caicedo; Joao Ortiz, Cristian Zabala (m.82, Patrick Mercado), Keny Arroyo (m.57, Jeison Medina); Kendry Paez (m.71, Justin Lerma), Renato Ibarra (m.82, Michael Hoyos) and Renzo Lopez (m.82, Romario Ibarra)
0 – Boca Juniors: Sergio Romero; Luis Advincula, Lautaro Di Lollo, Marcos Rojo, Lautaro Blanco; Jabes Saralegui (m.86, Santiago Dalmasso), Milton Delgado, Mauricio Benitez (m.72, Exequiel Zeballos), Lucas Janson (m.62, Mateo Mendia); Julian Ceballos (m.62, Juan Ramirez) and Miguel Merentiel (m.86, Luca Langoni)
Referee: Felipe Gonzalez of Chile cautioned Advincula, Ibarra, Juan Ramirez
Incidents: First leg of the Copa Sudamericana round of 16 qualifiers, played at the ‘Banco Guayaquil’ stadium, owned by Independiente del Valle.
