Marathón managed to equalize a match in which he showed some variants against the Portland Timbers in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Concacaf champions and leaves a reasonable 2-2, although it deserved a little more if not for the North American goalkeeper who made two clearings.
Héctor Vargas had to make it by injuring two protagonists; Carlo Costly and Luis Garrido, who also do not have the Cuban available Yaudel Lahera. If there was no setback from goalkeeper Denovan Torres scoring an own goal, the story would have been different.
Watch. CHECK MINUTE BY MINUTE OF THE MARATHON-PORTLAND GAME
The tie is now forcing the purslane box to die for a feat in the forests of Oregon. There he has to look for a win or a draw with goals greater than those scored on Wednesday, otherwise it will leave him on the sidelines of the elite tournament in the region.
Let’s go to the game. Portland started overwhelmingly as expected, it was a better team, a better squad and with better arguments, but purslane was able to solve it. Denovan Torres did a monumental cover in a heads up that was amazing. He took the target away from Williamson who grabbed it tightly and responded with height.
Read. WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE MARATHON MATCH BE?
The defense knew they couldn’t break free; Vargas put a row of three that he didn’t know how to stop the attacks at first: Techera, Carlos García and Carlos Perdomo, in the end the match forced the coach to move to a row of four to look for depth, but therein transition from the first goal of the game that opened the look at the Olympics.
Chilean striker Felipe Mora had an out, in 34 of the first half they let him get a cross from the right, he applied it at will and crossed to beat Denovan Torres who hit him but couldn’t do anything. The game from now on awakened the Monster that wouldn’t be easy prey at home.
But the greens four minutes later took advantage of a quick exit from Arriaga who gave Emilio a long pass, he opened it to the left so that Edwin Solani came in from the side and took a toxic center, rookie forward Bryan appeared in the center Castillo to the game to tie. The Monster also had its weapons.
That is how the first half ended. Already in the complementary squad, Héctor Vargas refreshed the midfield, sent Wilmer Crisanto and Cristian Cálix, but at the front the MLS team had and wanted to break with the ball on the ground. He couldn’t do it in elaborate plays because Kervin Arriaga and Emilio Izaguirre playing that containment stopped everything. They had to look for other arguments, such as the decor.
It was in one of those regrettable moves that Argentine Diego Valeri, a midfielder for the North American club, masterfully hit a free kick, the ball crashed vertically on the rebound and hit Marathon goalkeeper Denovan Torres in the forearm. The second so bad from that of the MLS. Vargas did not complain, but motivated his team to move forward.
Arriaga tried with long passes, but forward, Kevin Hoyos did nothing, Vargas had to substitute him and put Marlon “Machuca” Ramírez who had four minutes in the field when he received a ball from the left, entered the area, defeated a rival and left-handed goalkeeper Clark’s rack.
This goal meant the draw for the catrachos. They were about to do the third. Defender Mathías Techera took a violent header that forced goalkeeper Clark to fly, in the counter shot Techera reappeared but hit it in the body.
Kervin Arriaga pushed again, stole a ball and made a spectacular run, enabling Machuca Ramírez who went alone, but instead of looking for a partner, he tried to make a cut and lost the ball. The Timbers led the game to save the ball, ending the game. Now everything remains for the return in Oregon, where only a miracle can get rid of the strong Savarese team that played its first official game of the season.