Nacional de Uruguay climbed this Wednesday to the top of Group B of the Copa Libertadores 2023 by defeating Independiente Medellín 2-1 in stoppage time at the Gran Parque Central in Montevideo.
The Uruguayan tricolors came to occupy the lead alone, with 6 points, followed by the Brazilians from Internacional de Porto Alegre, with 4, the DIM Colombia, with 1, and Metropolitanos de Venezuela, without units.
At the start of the game, around 3 minutes, National he was close to converting on two occasions, one through his forward Juan Ignacio Ramírez, who was surprised by a mistake by the visiting defense, and another through midfielder Zabala, whose shot was parried by goalkeeper Vásquez.
Clearer was, however, the one that DIM had at 12′, after a great collective play that led to an overflow by the left wing of the attack and a cross behind that Luciano Pons could not connect.
The game was played quickly, but also rough and rude. Before the first minute, the Argentine referee Darío Herrera had already shown a yellow card to his compatriot Fabián Noguera, from Nacional.
With the baton of their midfielder and captain Daniel Torres, the reds handled the ball better in any case and string together more elaborate attacks than the tricolors.
At 24′, the former Olimpia Diego Polenta corrected a mistake that he himself had made at the start, avoiding the Colombian goal, and eight minutes later Sergio Rochet excelled, rejecting a free shot at Monsalve’s goal.
However, Nacional hit first. At 37′, a violent shot into the center of the goal by Federico Martínez was partially blocked by Vásquez. The ball drifted towards Gastón Pereiro, who, alone, shot the goalkeeper with a shot that entered the goal through the upper right corner after brushing the crossbar.
?⚪? The winning goal of @National!
? In the discount, Fabián Noguera scored 2-1 for the Bag, which has a perfect score in Group B of CONMEBOL #Liberators. pic.twitter.com/pxA9IJxhfq
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) April 20, 2023
Blow and final reaction
The second part began with the same tonic: the most prolific DIM and with the best game; National more vertical and something more dangerous.
But the game faded little by little. The Colombian reds did not create any danger and Nacional seemed content to maintain their advantage, lying on their ground and pressing marks.
On the cold night of Montevideo, a bucket of ice water fell on Central Park: at minute 79, when everything seemed under control for Nacional, the Argentine Luciano Daniel Pons appeared to tie the game with an excellent header that left Rochet without reaction.
However, there was a happy ending for the Uruguayans.
In the last breath of the match, reaching five minutes of discount granted and after a mixed play in the Colombian area, the Argentine Noguera, with a great game, managed to finish off the goal and score the second tricolor goal.
The Central Park exploded with joy, but the celebration was held back because the goal was reviewed by the VAR after angry protests from the visitors of course offside and the hand of Nacional players. The goal was validated anyway.
On the next date, National he must travel to Porto Alegre to face his pursuer, Internationaland the DIM will seek to recover by receiving metropolitan.
