A draw which favours the others: Universidad de San Martín - Cusco FC 1-1

Universidad de San Martín de Porres - Cusco FC 1-1 (1-0)

Monges 39' - Montes 76'.

Sunday, 3 October 2021, 10:30 am local time (3:30 pm UTC), San Marcos Stadium, Lima (neutral ground), Peru, 14th round of Stage 2, Peruvian First Division.

Both teams are fighting to avoid relegation, so the result of this match was crucial for each of them. However, the context was different. Universidad de San Martín is in a very poor form, they have not won a single match during Stage 2, which means 14 matches without a single win. If one adds the Stage 1 final, which they lost (in extra time) to Sporting Cristal, there are already 15 consecutive matches without a victory, and to be more precise, only 4 draws and 11 defeats (although the Stage 1 final may also be counted as a draw, but in reality it certainly was a defeat).

Cusco FC are in a better position, as they fought well in the last matches, they won 3-2 over Academia Cantolao, and they received 2 points from the Disciplinary Board of the Peruvian Football Federation, as their match against Cienciano, which ended 2-2 in the field, was awarded 3-0 to Cusco FC, because Cienciano apparently fielded an ineligible player, Mathías Carpio. These 2 points were essential for Cusco FC to move from the last position in the table and catch up with a bunch of teams which now all have 22 points at the bottom of the table.

A win for either team would have secured more chances to avoid relegation, so the match was very highly disputed. Cusco FC attacked more, and had many chances from the very beginning, by means of Sandro Rengifo, Mauricio Montes, José Rivera and Matías Abisab. Universidad de San Martín defended well and responded by Carlos Monges. The goal came towards the end of the first half, rather unexpectedly: Gabriel Delgado crossed to Piero Vivanco, whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Diego Enríquez, but the ball deflected perfectly to Carlos Monges in the centre of the box, who scored: 1-0 (39'). Not long after, Universidad de San Martín had a huge opportunity to double their advantage, but Manuel Corrales had a miraculous intervention right in front of the goal.

At half time, Cusco FC made a couple of offensive changes, sending in both Alfredo "Chapu" Ramúa and Víctor Cedrón. Universidad de San Martín made a step back, defending their advantage. The game was played almost entirely in one half, and even more, in the area of Universidad de San Martín. Cusco FC attacked almost continuously. Alfredo Ramúa's shot hit the Gabriel Delgado's hand inside the box and the referee awarded the penalty to Cusco FC. Mauricio Montes executed, but over the crossbar (55').

The game continued as if nothing happened, with the same Cusco FC players literally assaulting the opposing goal, insisting with shots, crosses, passes, whatever, but nothing seemed to pay off. Eventually, a cross by Ramúa from the right was slightly deviated by Miguel Carranza and Mauricio Montes headed the ball in: 1-1 (76').

 Mauricio Montes scored the equalizer for Cusco FC. Source: depor.com

One could believe that Cusco's attacks would continue, as they still had 15 minutes ahead, plus stoppage time, and it looked like their opponents were down and easy to defeat. However, they reduced the intensity of the attacks and Universidad de San Martín managed to get out of their own half and to balance the game in the final minutes. The referee did not award a second penalty for Cusco, despite some claims in this respect, especially for a possible foul on Montes in the box. The final score, 1-1, seemed to be at least partly appreciated by both teams, which is quite surprising, because the real beneficiaries are the other teams fighting to avoid relegation.

San Martín: Penny - Salas, Schüler, Cavagna, Llontop - Delgado (Bilbao 86'), Barco, Vivanco (Inga 70') - Bazán (Zanelatto 59'), Monges (N. Figueroa 86'), Pérez Guedes. Manager: José Espinoza.

Cusco: Enríquez - Velásquez (Carranza 66'), Rizzo, A. Figueroa, Corrales - Aubert (Cedrón 46'), Gonzales (Royón 71'), Abisab - Rivera (Ramúa 46'), Montes, Rengifo (Espinoza 89'). Manager: Marcelo Grioni.

Referee: David Huamán.

Yellow cards: Vivanco 48', Delgado 60' - Corrales 90'.

In the upper half of the table, it is now clear that the national title would be decided after a play-off final between Sporting Cristal (Stage 1 winners) and Alianza Lima (Stage 2 winners), because these two teams are also the top two classified in the aggregate table.

In the lower half of the table, at least seven teams are involved in the fight to avoid relegation, four of them having the same number of points in last place. The remaining matches will be decisive.

There will be a short break, caused by the official games of the national teams, and the last three rounds of Stage 2 would be played in the second half of October.

Full results, tables and fixtures:

Round 14 (1-3 October 2021)

 

Ayacucho – Carlos A. Mannucci 3-2

Sport Boys – Alianza Atlético 3-1

Cienciano – Sporting Cristal 2-1

Sport Huancayo – Alianza Universidad 4-3

Deportivo Municipal – Binacional 1-2

Alianza Lima – UTC 2-0

Universidad de San Martín – Cusco FC 1-1

Academia Cantolao – FBC Melgar 0-2

Universitario – Universidad César Vallejo 3-0

 

Stage 2 (Clausura) table

 

1	Alianza Lima	14	11	3	0	24-7	36	Qualified for the play-off
2	FBC Melgar	14	7	4	3	24-12	25
3	Sport Boys	14	7	4	3	19-15	25
4	Sporting Cristal	13	7	3	3	30-18	24
5	Universitario de Deportes	14	5	5	3	25-16	23
6	Cienciano	14	5	5	4	20-18	20
7	Carlos A. Mannucci	14	6	2	6	23-22	20
8	Binacional	13	6	2	5	20-21	20
9	Universidad César Vallejo	14	5	4	5	11-11	19
10	Ayacucho FC	14	5	4	5	18-21	19
11	UTC	14	5	4	5	14-18	19
12	Deportivo Municipal	14	5	3	6	18-16	18
13	Cusco FC	14	4	3	7	25-26	15
14	Academia Cantolao	14	3	5	6	17-20	14
15	Sport Huancayo	14	2	8	4	15-19	14
16	Alianza Universidad	14	3	4	7	14-26	13
17	Alianza Atlético	14	3	3	8	17-31	12
18	Universidad San Martín	14	0	4	10	5-22	4

 

Rules for classification (except for first place): 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) drawing of lots.

A play-off is needed to decide the winner if two or more teams are tied on points on top of the table at the end of the tournament.

 

Round 15 (16-18 October 2021)

 

Alianza Atlético – Academia Cantolao

UTC – Sport Boys

Carlos A. Mannucci – Alianza Lima

FBC Melgar – Universidad de San Martín

Alianza Universidad – Cienciano

Sporting Cristal – Ayacucho

Cusco FC – Deportivo Municipal

Binacional – Universitario

Universidad César Vallejo – Sport Huancayo

 

Aggregate table (Stage 1 + Stage 2)

 

1	Alianza Lima (CW, Q)	23	15	7	1	36-13	52	Qualified for the play-offs & CL
2	Sporting Cristal (AW, Q)	22	15	3	4	48-24	48	Qualified for the play-offs & CL
3	Universitario de Deportes	23	10	8	5	37-27	37	[1] Qualified for C. Libertadores
4	Univ. César Vallejo	23	10	7	6	28-19	37	Qualified for Copa Libertadores
5	FBC Melgar	23	9	7	7	35-24	34	Qualified for C. Sudamericana
6	Ayacucho FC	23	8	10	5	34-31	34	Qualified for C. Sudamericana
7	Sport Boys	23	10	5	8	31-29	34	[1] Qualified for C. Sudamericana
8	Cienciano	23	9	7	7	34-30	33	[1] Qualified for C. Sudamericana
9	Carlos A. Mannucci	23	9	5	9	36-36	32
10	UTC	23	8	5	10	23-30	29
11	Sport Huancayo	23	5	11	7	23-28	26
12	Deportivo Municipal	23	7	4	12	24-31	24	[1]
13	Academia Cantolao	23	6	6	11	25-33	24
14	Binacional	23	7	3	12	28-42	24
15	Cusco FC	23	5	8	10	37-39	22	[1]
16	Alianza Atlético	23	6	4	13	27-40	22	Relegation/promotion play-offs
17	Universidad San Martín	23	6	5	12	15-28	22	[1] Relegation to Second Division
18	Alianza Universidad	23	6	5	12	22-39	22	[1] Relegation to Second Division

 

Q – Qualified for the play-offs

AW – Stage 1 (Apertura) Winners

CW – Stage 2 (Clausura) Winners

R – Relegated

 

Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) drawing of lots; 5) play-off (only if needed to decide teams for relegation)

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[1] Universitario de Deportes, Universidad de San Martín, Cienciano, Alianza Universidad, Sport Boys, Cusco FC, and Deportivo Municipal have been all deducted 1 point in the aggregate table for financial irregularities.