Advantage: LDU Quito.

By: Mauro | May 16th, 2008

I expected San Lorenzo to come out and defend their ground, especially with their stadium filled to the brim. Not that they didn’t try. But they were faced with a very well organized LDU Quito squad. One that defended with it’s midfielders as well as it’s defenders. One that found space on the flanks and used it to create all kinds of nightmares for San Lorenzo’s back line. With Luís Bolaños on one side and Joffre Guerrón on the other, both easily the best players on the pitch for LDU Quito, they took advantage of San Lorenzo’s poor marking on the flanks.

It took 14 minutes for the locals to get their first chance on goal. A cross by Andrés D’Allesandro met with a header by Cristian Tula that Gonzalo Bergessio (dangerous when he was involved) was able to get a shot off that went off the post. LDU followed with a shot by Patricio Urrutia that went off the post as well.

The match was hotly contested and possession was fleeting for both squads. Damián Manso played the creative midfielder for LDU and D’Allessandro the same for San Lorenzo, but as the match wore on, both seemed to disappear giving rise to players like Patricio Urrutia, Luis Bolaños for LDU and Adrián González, Walter Acevedo for San Lorenzo but most likely because of the space Manso and D’Allesandro created for them by just being on the pitch.

In the 36th minute, a long pass into space caught San Lorenzo keeper Agustín Orión in the worst way. He made a grave, grave error playing the ball off his foot and took LDU’s Argentine striker Claudio Bieler’s speed for granted. Bieler made him pay for that error by lobbing the ball over Orión and into the goal. 1-0 to LDU Quito.

Two minutes later, almost willing it, González was able to get in an amazing free kick that left LDU keeper José Cevallos standing as if his feet were nailed to the pitch. 1-1.

The amount of yellow cards, while nothing compared to the number of yellows flashed in their last match in El Monumental last week, were still more than I think either coach wanted. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as long as the players don’t get sent off since there is no suspension for accumulation of yellow cards in this competition. A player could get a yellow in 14 consecutive matches, all the way to the final, and not get suspended. It’s a weird loophole in the rule book. Yes, this is not a UEFA event by any means.

In any case, San Lorenzo seemed lulled to sleep by LDU’s amount of possession after the tying goal and well into the second half. LDU attacked with Bolaños, Manso, Urrutia, Guerrón, Paul Ambrossi and Bieler, keeping many of San Lorenzo’s defenders and midfielders busy and making Bergessio and Silvera magically disappear.

As the match wore on, LDU started to defend with more and more men behind the ball baiting San Lorenzo to come at them to leave themselves open at the back for the counter. San Lorenzo had about 3 or 4 chances to score but the ball either went just wide or was contained by Cevallos’ good work.

LDU left Buenos Aires with another positive result and left San Lorenzo thinking about how they’ll stage a come back at the high altitude stadium in Ecuador in seven days time. Another uphill battle for Ramón Díaz and his boys.

I had this match going 2-1 to San Lorenzo, much like their match two weeks ago, almost exactly like that match, actually. There are still 90 minutes to play and the winner in Quito next week gets to advance to the Semis. I, personally, never thought either of these teams would qualify for the Semis. I figured LDU would face a tough squad and fail to beat them and after San Lorenzo’s poor start I figured they would suffer the same fate. So much for my opinion of these two. Still, I have doubts about either of these two getting through the semis and into the final tie.

Check the CONMEBOL website for results, stats and upcoming matches.