Copa Sudamericana: Fortaleza eliminated Rosario Central

Strengthwith a comeback, won the match 3-1 Central Rosary and, in addition to eliminating the Argentina team, they advanced to the quarterfinals of the South American Cupa stage where they will also face the Brazilian Corinthians.

The team led by Argentine Juan Pablo Vojvoda, who earned a crucial 1-1 draw last week with their visit to Central in the first leg played at Gigante de Arroyito, won the second leg with goals from Lucas Sasha , Yago Pikachu and the Argentine Juan Martín Lucero, author of 7 of Fortaleza’s 17 goals in the competition and second highest scorer in Sudamericana.

Rosario Central enjoyed a goal from Facundo Mallo at the start of the second half, but could not stop the comeback of the Brazilians, who now have 5 wins and 2 draws in their 8 games this year for the Sudamericana, a tournament in which runner- they were up last year.

The locals started the attack from the first minute, with shots in the opponent’s area always looking for Lucero or Yago Pikachu, but Rosario Central had the first clear chance, with a free kick sent by Lovera on Joao Ricardo’s goal.

In the first 30 minutes, while studying each other, the two opponents battled for control of the ball in the middle of the field and hardly threatened the opposing goal in a rather treacherous match. Fortaleza’s first option came in the 31st minute when, after Bruno Pacheco’s assist from the left, Lucero received it inside the area but was disarmed by Quintana.

The Brazilian team insisted on attacking on the right side with Bruno Lopes but did not create danger, while the Argentine tried several strategies with Franco Ibarra, Jonatan Gomez and Enzo Copetti, but also did not fear Joao Ricardo.

Although Fortaleza had more control of the ball (53%), the two teams went to the shower without any completion or direct shot at the rival goal in an emotionless first half. The mediocrity ended in minute 2 of the second half, when, after Malcorra’s free kick, defender Facundo Mallo came out of the area to push the ball and open the scoring for Rosario Central.

Fortaleza needed just four minutes to equalize and Lucero did it after a play from the newly introduced Sasha and an assist from Pikachu. Tied again, the Brazilians and Argentines once again limited the match to a tussle in the middle of the field with few scoring opportunities.

The midfield duel was won by Fortaleza

And in that duel, Fortaleza won, scoring their second goal in the 77th minute, when Yago Pikachu, after an assist from Tinga, attacked the Rosario Central area, escaped his marker and took advantage of the release of Broun to kick and score. The Brazilian team kept up the pressure and managed to raise the score in the minutes of substitution when Lucas Sasha took advantage of the rebound from goalkeeper Broun with a header to make it 3-1.

TECHNICAL SHEET

3 – Strength: João Ricardo; Tinga, Benjamín Kuscevic, Tomás Cardona, Bruno Pacheco; José Welison (m.45, Hércules), Pedro Augusto (m.45, Lucas Sasha), Tomás Pochettino (m.75, Kervin Andrade); Yago Pikachu, Juan Martín Lucero (m.83, Renato Kayzer) and Breno Lopes (m.75, Moisés).
1 – Central Rosary: Jorge Broun; Emanuel Coronel, Carlos Quintana, Facundo Mallo (d.64, Miguel Ángel Barbieri), Agustín Sández; Franco Ibarra, Mauricio Martínez, Jonatan Gomez (m.78, Lautaro Giaccone), Víctor Ignacio Malcorra (m.57, Agustín Solari), Maximiliano Lovera (m.57, Tomas O’Connor); and Enzo Copetti (m.45, Lucas Martínez Dupuy).
Objectives: 0-1, Mallo (m. 47); 1-1, Lucero (m. 51); 2-1, Yago Pikachu (m. 77); 3-1, Lucas Sasha (m. 91)
Referee: Uruguayan Esteban Ostojich yellow card Fortaleza assistant coach Gastón Liendo and substitute Brítez, as well as Pochettino, Pedro Augusto, Mallo, Pikachu, Kervin Andrade and Ibarra.
Incidents: The second leg match of the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana was played at the Arena Castelão stadium in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza in front of 50,135 spectators.