The Melgar of Arequipa eliminated this Tuesday from the South American Cup to the Scienceno from Cusco, the only Peruvian team to have won an international tournament, with a goal from Argentine Bernardo Cuesta that allowed them to advance to the group stage of the competition.
The team led by the Argentine Néstor Lorenzo was strong at home to seal a 1-0 in the classic between teams from southern Peru, breaking the 1-1 parity reached in the first leg played last week in Cusco .
After 19 minutes of play, Cuesta showed all his artillery resources to take out a rival marker in the area and score the only goal of the game with a low shot that entered the left post defended by Chilean goalkeeper Miguel Vargas.
In the field of the Monumental stadium of the UNSA there was an intense clash and at times stuck, especially in the first half, when three Cienciano players were reprimanded by the Colombian referee Andrés Rojas.
During the first few minutes, Melgar had options from Argentinean Martín Pérez Guedes and his compatriot Cuesta, who at minute 8 sent a header that narrowly missed Vargas’ goal.
In response, fellow Argentinean Danilo Carando hit another header off target that, with greater precision and luck, could well have opened the account for Cienciano. However, before the goal, Melgar went to the front and had chances at the feet of Luis Iberico, Alexis Arias and Cuesta himself.
After suffering the goal, Cienciano looked for a reply with shots from Argentines Nicolás Rinaldi and Luciano Recalde, although towards the end of the first half Melgar was able to increase the score with a header from also Argentine Cristian Bordacahar.
In the second half, offensive attempts were made by both teams, with deep attacks by Iberico and Carando on each goal, but also numerous fouls and game interruptions, to the point that at 81 minutes midfielder Arias had to leave the field due to injury.
Towards the end, Melgar struggled without luck to increase the numbers, but two shots sent by Iberico and Archimbaud were unsuccessful.
With Cuesta’s solitary score, Melgar left Cienciano out of the tournament that gave him international fame, when he won the 2003 title, after beating River Plate, and a year later allowed him to win the Recopa Sudamericana, thanks to a triumph resonant about Boca Juniors.
