Sport Huancayo 1-2 Cusco FC
Piero Magallanes 74' - Lucas Colitto 45'+3', Nicolás Silva 68'.
Sunday, 23 Novemeber 2025, 3 pm local time (8 pm UTC), IPD Huancayo Stadium, Huancayo, Peru, 19th (last) round of Clausura, Peruvian First Division (Liga 1).
Cusco FC starting line-up. Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page
Tough game between two Peruvian strong teams, in the last matchday of the season, each team still with objectives to achieve on the table, unfortunately quite different from each other but unachievable at the same time. Cusco FC needed at least a draw to secure the second place in the aggregate table, which would provide them with a place directly in the play-off for the second place (yes, the title is already gone, Universitario de Deportes are champions for the third time in a row). While Sport Huancayo needed to win to clinch the eighth place in the aggregate table, the last one leading to Copa Sudamericana in 2026. Well, to tell the complete story, Cusco FC might have lost and still be second if and only if Alianza Lima would not win at home against UTC Cajamarca, but this was not the case, so the game was on.
In the first half, the game was unrecognizable. Was this football after all? Cusco FC were worried only to have as much possession as possible, but they had it mostly in their own half, without too much pressure on the opponents. Sport Huancayo would have liked to attack, but they simply did not have the ball too much, and their attacks were quickly smothered by Cusco. The first shot on target came only in 25', when Cusco goalkeeper Díaz saved a shot from Enzo Fernández.
Another event was that Aldair Fuentes, one of Cusco FC centre-backs, was injured and had to be replaced in 35' by Carlos Gamarra - quite a blow for Cusco FC defense.
The surprise came at the end of the first half, actually in those 4 minutes of stoppage time, given because of Fuentes' injury. A long ball to the left side, Lucas Colitto combined one-two with Iván Colman, and there he was in the box, and a shot to the far corner gave Cusco FC an unexpected lead: 0-1 (45'+3').
Cusco FC players celebrating (left to right): Facundo Callejo, Iván Colman, Carlo Diez, Miguel Aucca, Lucas Colitto, and Nicolás Silva. Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page
The second half was much more entertaining. It started with a penalty for Sport Huancayo: Sanguinetti's shot was blocked by Álex Custodio with his hands (50'). However, the shot came from very short distance, the hands were in front of the body and actually on Janio Pósito, the ball would have been blocked by Custodio's body anyway, and the ball seemed to have been slightly deviated by Pósito's back before hitting Custodio's hands. The referee initially decided to play on, and Sanguinetti even had a second shot, saved by Díaz. Two minutes afterwards, however, the VAR changed his mind and called the referee to review. Finally, a penalty was given. Pósito took the penalty, hit hard but in the middle and Díaz saved (56')!
The pressure from Sport Huancayo continued nevertheless, and Díaz saved other strong shots as well, when the defenders were not able to contain the attacks. It was while the home side was clearly looking for an equalizer when Cusco FC stroke again. Much like the first goal: on the left side Nicolás Silva combined with the same Iván Colman, one-two, entered the box and had a shot at the far post: 0-2 (68').
It was yet another blow for Sport Huancayo, but they did not give up, and mounted their offensive again. Shortly after, they managed to reduce the difference. Nahuel Luján crossed from the right on the far post, and sub Piero Magallanes, all alone 7 meters away from goal, succeeded to make the right touch on the ball to send it home: 1-2 (74').
Nothing was over yet. Huancayo even had an equalizer, denied by VAR. It started with a silly pass back to Gamarra, who slipped, goalkeeper Díaz came out of the box and tried to clear, but hit Marlon de Jesús, and the ball went straight into goal (82')! VAR entered the game once again, showing the referee that the ball had hit Marlon de Jesús' arms, then his leg. In any other action it would not have been handball, because the distance was very small, but because a goal came out of it, it had to be cancelled, although one can argue that it was not scored with a hand, as the last part of the body which touched the ball was the leg. Nevertheless, de Jesús did not nothing on purpose, the ball just hit him, and that's it, his main contribution was that he was there to pressurize the goalkeeper, Díaz, who played perfectly until this. The goal was anyway cancelled, and Cusco FC had to take extra precautions in the remaining minutes, although an equalizer would not have done much harm, and would have not helped Sport Huancayo. The home side continued to attack, but were not able to score, so Cusco FC won and are second in the Clausura as well as in the aggregate table, so they qualified directly in the play-off final for the second place.
In the semifinal, Sporting Cristal (fourth in the aggregate table) will take on Alianza Lima (third in the aggregate table), to decide which of them will play against Cusco FC in the final. All these teams are qualified for the next year Copa Libertadores, but the winner of the play-off will go straight in the group stage, just like the champions, Universitario de Deportes, while the finalist and semifinalist will have to go through preliminary rounds of Copa Libertadores. Sport Huancayo's defeat also helped Cusco FC local rivals Cienciano to snatch the eighth place and therefore to qualify for the next year Copa Sudamericana, which they achieved by winning 2-1 over Ayacucho, sending Ayacucho in the Second Division (Liga 2).
Huancayo: Zamudio - Madrid, Murillo, Gaona, Herrera (Barboza 55') - Salcedo, Villar (Carranza 61') - Luján, Sanguinetti (Magallanes 55'), Fernández (De Jesús 61') - Pósito (Martínez 68'). Manager: Richard Pellejero.
Cusco FC: Díaz - Zevallos (Tévez 90'), Fuentes (Gamarra 35'), Custodio, Ampuero - Diez, Aucca (Ruidías 77') - Silva (Da Silva 77'), Colman, Colitto - Callejo. Manager: Miguel Rondelli.
Referee: Edwin Ordóñez.
Yellow cards: Murillo 71' - Ruidías 64', Diez 79'.
Final tables of Clausura and the aggregate table (Apertura + Clausura):
Final Clausura table
|
1 |
Universitario de Deportes (W, C) |
17 |
12 |
4 |
1 |
29-13 |
40 |
Champions |
|
2 |
Cusco FC |
17 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
29-15 |
36 |
|
|
3 |
Sporting Cristal |
17 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
29-13 |
31 |
|
|
4 |
Alianza Lima |
17 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
30-19 |
31 |
|
|
5 |
Cienciano |
17 |
8 |
3 |
6 |
25-21 |
27 |
|
|
6 |
Los Chankas |
17 |
9 |
0 |
8 |
21-28 |
27 |
|
|
7 |
Comerciantes Unidos |
17 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
20-21 |
26 |
|
|
8 |
FBC Melgar |
17 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
24-17 |
25 |
|
|
9 |
Deportivo Garcilaso |
17 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
20-21 |
25 |
|
|
10 |
ADT Tarma |
17 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
19-20 |
25 |
|
|
11 |
Alianza Atlético |
17 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
15-12 |
23 |
|
|
12 |
Sport Huancayo |
17 |
5 |
3 |
9 |
28-28 |
18 |
|
|
13 |
Alianza Universidad |
17 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
23-33 |
17 |
|
|
14 |
Atlético Grau |
17 |
4 |
4 |
9 |
19-24 |
16 |
|
|
15 |
Sport Boys |
17 |
4 |
4 |
9 |
14-25 |
16 |
|
|
16 |
Juan Pablo II College |
17 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
13-23 |
14 |
|
|
17 |
Ayacucho FC |
17 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
16-29 |
14 |
|
|
18 |
UTC Cajamarca |
17 |
3 |
4 |
10 |
16-28 |
13 |
|
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) fair-play (according to the number of red and yellow cards); 5) drawing of lots.
W – Clausura winners
C – Champions (because they won both Apertura and Clausura)
Final aggregate table (Apertura + Clausura)
|
1 |
Universitario de Deportes |
35 |
24 |
7 |
4 |
67-25 |
79 |
Champions, qualified for CL |
|
2 |
Cusco FC |
35 |
21 |
7 |
7 |
63-35 |
70 |
Qualified for play-offs & CL |
|
3 |
Alianza Lima |
35 |
20 |
8 |
7 |
53-30 |
68 |
Qualified for play-offs & CL |
|
4 |
Sporting Cristal |
35 |
19 |
6 |
10 |
60-37 |
63 |
Qualified for play-offs & CL |
|
5 |
Alianza Atlético |
35 |
17 |
6 |
12 |
43-30 |
57 |
Qualified for C.Sudamericana |
|
6 |
FBC Melgar |
35 |
14 |
14 |
7 |
52-37 |
56 |
Qualified for C.Sudamericana |
|
7 |
Deportivo Garcilaso |
35 |
14 |
10 |
11 |
48-40 |
52 |
Qualified for C.Sudamericana |
|
8 |
Cienciano |
35 |
13 |
11 |
11 |
54-46 |
50 |
Qualified for C.Sudamericana |
|
9 |
Los Chankas |
35 |
14 |
8 |
13 |
45-53 |
50 |
|
|
10 |
ADT Tarma |
35 |
13 |
10 |
12 |
43-50 |
49 |
|
|
11 |
Sport Huancayo |
35 |
14 |
6 |
15 |
51-49 |
48 |
|
|
12 |
Atlético Grau |
35 |
9 |
11 |
15 |
42-48 |
38 |
|
|
13 |
Comerciantes Unidos |
35 |
9 |
10 |
16 |
37-52 |
37 |
|
|
14 |
Sport Boys |
35 |
9 |
9 |
17 |
40-53 |
36 |
|
|
15 |
Juan Pablo II College |
35 |
8 |
9 |
18 |
33-51 |
33 |
|
|
16 |
UTC Cajamarca |
35 |
8 |
8 |
19 |
33-62 |
32 |
|
|
17 |
Ayacucho FC (R) |
35 |
8 |
5 |
22 |
30-56 |
29 |
Relegated to Liga 2 |
|
18 |
Alianza Universidad (R) |
35 |
7 |
7 |
21 |
39-66 |
28 |
Relegated to Liga 2 |
|
19 |
Deportivo Binacional (R) |
18 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
20-33 |
18 |
Relegated to Liga 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) fair-play (according to the number of red and yellow cards); 5) drawing of lots.
R – relegated
