Marcelo Weigandt (39), Valentín Barco (61) and Luis Vázquez (85 and 88) they scored the goals for Boca’s victory, which ended the match with ten players due to the expulsion of Paraguayan defender Bruno Valdez (36), while in Monagas Abdiel Arroyo (49) saw the red card.
Boca made the favorable predictions come true and finished as the comfortable leader of Group F with 13 points, followed by the Colombian Deportivo Pereira (8), both classified to the round of 16, while the Chilean Colo Colo (6) finished third and will play the playoffs of the Copa Sudamericana, and Monagas (5) was left out of alleither.
– Complicated start –
Even with a good lead, Boca needed at least a draw to secure first place, while Monagas could hope to at least reach the Copa Sudamericana with a combination of results.
But, even with several changes forced by the series of injuries that plagues the squad, Boca dominated from the beginning, and could have scored after 5 minutes, in a cross that complicated the visitor’s defense, and in which Castillo punched the ball that the referee Matonte did not recognize as a penalty, nor was the action observed by VAR.
The locals came close again thanks to a good individual play by Medina, the midfielder who showed a very good performance, which he defined with a shot that went off to the side of the right post, and then, in a corner kick, Weigandt headed but the ball bounced off the corner.
Monagas had the possibility of a counterattack, and he had a solitary chance in a cross ball for Basante, who entered behind the center backs, but failed to connect when he only had “Chiquito” Romero ahead of him.
But Boca seemed to get complicated on its own, because after half an hour the Paraguayan Bruno Valdez was kicked out in a childish way when he protested to the Uruguayan Andrés Matonte, who did not hesitate and showed him the second yellow card, in an unusual attitude of the Guarani defender, who had already been expelled against the same rival, in Venezuela.
However, Xeneize immediately found relief and unlocked the match with the first goal, in a cross shot by Payero that seemed to go away, but Weigandt entered unmarked at the far post, corrected and touched the net.
– Forcefulness –
At the start of the second part, both teams would be even with ten, because Arroyo saw the red card after a strong foul on “Pol” Fernández, while Boca began to tilt the game in the Venezuelan field.
On the left, the locals found fertile ground to progress, and that’s where the second came, in an overflow from the Colombian Fabra who assisted the youthful Barco, 18, who settled down and took a right cross to celebrate his initial goal in the first for Boca.
Boca sentenced the duel in 60 minutes, and he had half an hour left of action in which he generated almost a dozen chances to overwhelm a Monagas who lowered his arms and resigned himself to defeat.
The goalkeeper Roa, a regular substitute, did what he could and He saved his fence from a historic win by covering shots from Fernández first and Barco, and then he had the help of the crossbar before a shot placed by Sandez.
But even Roa’s resistance was not enough and Boca increased the distance with Vázquez’s double, the young striker who had not scored for several months and was able to shake off the losing streak, first by receiving in the middle and defining with a shot that beat the goalkeeper’s hands, and shortly after, with a low and accurate touch.
With ease and an effectiveness that he missed a long time ago, Boca ratified its favoritism, and despite some ups and downs, ternished at the top of Group F, in the race again for the tournament that he became his obsession a while ago.
