They beat El Nacional 3-1 and are tied on points with 9 de Octubre
Joahnner Chávez, Júnior Sornoza and Lautaro Díaz scored for the locals and Nilo Valencia did it for the visitors
Independiente del Valle won this Friday 3-1 against El Nacionalon the first day of the final home run of the Ecuadorian Cup, and remains intractable in national tournaments, less than two weeks before facing Peruvian Melgar in the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana. With this new triumph, Independiente stands home run leader at the end of the first day, tied on points with 9 de Octubre, which is second after beating Mushuc Runa 2-0 on Wednesday, and presents its firm candidacy to win the tournament. Joahnner Chávez, Júnior Sornoza and the Argentinian Lautaro Díaz converted the goals for Independiente, while Nilo Valencia scored for El Nacional.
Although El Nacional put the desire, effort and actions of good football, this was not enough to stop the winning streak of the team led by the Argentine Martín Anselmi. As a result of an error on the way out by the El Nacional defense, Independiente del Valle took advantage and scored through a precise pass by Júnior Sornoza to the far left Chavezwhich he defined in anticipation of the departure of goalkeeper Leodán Chalá, in the 19th minute.
No matter how hard the ‘Los Puros Criollos’ team tried, as they also call El Nacional, they couldn’t even the score, as their rival showed off their great performance between the lines. Independiente scored the second goal as a result of the technique and precision of Sornoza on a free kick, as the ball went over the barrier and entered Chalá’s right side in the 31st minute.
Criollos’ striker, Gustavo Asprilla, missed an opportunity to reduce the deficit after a quick attack by Daniel Patiño, who sent him a cross, but his shot went to the side of Moisés Ramírez’s frame. The disadvantage did not discourage those led by the Uruguayan-Paraguayan coach Ever Hugo Almeida, who managed to shorten the differences in the 40th minute, after a great maneuver by Maicon Solis on the right, who launched a cross to the other end so that he could catch it Valencia with a splendid header.
Nacional returned in the second half to continue testing with the aerial game and managed to create several difficulties for the local defense, which also responded by weaving good offensive actions. The fastest of Independiente’s attackers, the Argentine Diazscored the third goal, in the 75th minute. After another error on the way out by the El Nacional defenders, fellow Argentine Jonathan Bauman recovered the ball and placed a deep pass for the scorer.
The second date will be held next Wednesday with the Mushuc Runa-Independiente del Valle and El Nacional-October 9 matches.
