Hands up if you didn’t win this weekend
There were goals galore in the fourth round of the Torneo Transición with thirty-three goals scored across the nine matches including a pulsating draw between Huachipato and Cobreloa and dominant performances from Unión Española and Universidad Católica.
It was an emotion charged beginning to round four with O’Higgins paying tribute to the fans that tragically lost their lives before their match against Palestino in the Estadio El Teniente. Whilst many teams may have been overwhelmed by such an occasion O’Higgins paid tribute to their lost fans in the best way possible as they twice came from behind to defeat their opponents 3-2 in a thrilling encounter. The win, which was their third in a row, was made possible by goals to Boris Sagredo and Pablo Calandria in the 83rd and 87th minutes and a Miguel Escalona own goal after a brace to Jason Silva had given Palestino the advantage. The result leaves Palestino, who made the playoffs last season, without a win for the season and leaves them in the fourteenth position.
The goals continued to flow in the second match of the round but it was all one way traffic in the clásico de colonias as Unión Española demolished Audax Italiano 4-0 in one of the performances of the round. The majority of the damage was done in the first half with la furia roja three goals to the good by the time Eduardo Gamboa blew his whistle for the half time with Patricio Rubio scoring two of them and Sebastián Jaime the other. Jaime completed his brace a minute into the second half in a dominant performance for the home side. The visiting Audax fans had obviously had seen enough and disrupted play during the second half by lobbing flares onto the pitch.
Saturday’s opening match saw Everton maintain their unbeaten start to the season as they drew 1-all with Universidad de Chile in the Estadio Lucio Fariña. The game was characterised by a first half where both teams had plenty of chances but were thwarted by some great saves from both goalkeepers. Both of the games’ two goals came just before half time with Jorge Romo opening the scoring for Everton in the 44th minute before Sebastián Ubilla made it three goals in two games a minute later for the visitors. In the second half Ubilla had the two best chances for los azules but was unable to find the back of the net whilst Everton very rarely threatened Jhonny Herrera’s goal. The result leaves La U floundering in twelfth position whilst Everton find themselves six places higher on the table.
In the day’s next match Unión La Calera continued their good start to the season with 1-0 victory over Iquique in the Estadio Nicolás Chahuán. With one eye on the Copa Libertadores, Iquique rested a number of key players from the starting XI including Edson Puch, Manuel Villalobos and Rodrigo Díaz which resulted in a somewhat disjointed performance from the northerners but some credit has to go to their opponents. The match itself was an ill-tempered affair where seven yellow cards were handed out it was a Maximiliano Bajter goal in the 22nd minute that proved to be the difference. The win sees La Calera move into fourth position whilst Iquique sit in thirteenth position.
After a disappointing Clausura campaign Universidad Católica have the Torneo Transición in fine form and that continued this round with a 4-2 demolition of Antofagasta at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquimbo. Before Antofagasta even had time to draw breath found themselves two goals down after ten minutes as both Ismael Sosa and Carlos Bueno found the back of the net. The visitors managed to pull one back via a Fernando Cordero own goal in the 27th minute but any glimmer of hope as snuffed out by another Carlos Bueno goal six minutes later. Both teams added a further goal apiece in the second half but much of the sting had already gone out of the game. The win saw Universidad Católica move into top spot whilst the loss for Antofagasta sees them very much mired in the relegation zone on the Coeficiente de Rendimiento table.
Saturday’s action came to a close in the north of the country as San Marcos de Arica’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end as they lost 4-0 to fellow promoted side, Ñublense. In their two previous encounters in the Primera B the two teams shared the spoils but there was to be no sharing of the points in this encounter. Ñublense opened the scoring in the 13th minute courtesy of Javier Grbec before Pablo Reinoso doubled the advantage eight minutes before the half time break. In the second half the home side came out looking to cut their opponent’s lead but to no avail. Mauricio Gomez then sealed all three points for Ñublense with goals in the 84th and 87th minutes.
Sunday’s action kicked off in the north of the country and there were plenty of goals (quite a few of them quite late) to be had with ten goals being scored in the two games that kicked at 4pm.
In El Salvador two late goals saw Cobresal rescue a point as their match against Rangers finished at two-all. Rangers opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute courtesy of Diego Martinez before Juan Casado added a second for the visitors in the 68th minute. It then looked like Rangers would be picking up their second win of the season but goals to Felipe Salinas and Ever Cantero in the 81st and 87th minutes respectively ensured that Cobresal would pick up their first points of the season.
After starting the season with two impressive wins, Cobreloa next two matches have finished with the spoils shared with their latest match with Huachipato finishing in a pulsating 3-3 draw. Cobreloa, who have scored nine goals in their first three matches opened the scoring in the 22nd minute courtesy of Marco Sebastián Pol, who completed his brace in the 64th minute. Sandwiched in between Pol’s goals was Huachipato’s first goal of the season which came in the form of a David Llanos header in the 50th minute. After Pol had put Cobreloa ahead two goals to Nicolás Nuñez in the 65th and 88th minute had Huachipato dreaming of their first win of the season. However the dream soon turned to a nightmare as Cristián Suarez popped up in the 92nd to grab a very late equaliser for the home side.
The round’s last match saw Colo Colo continue with its up and down season after they bounced back from their loss last week to defeat Santiago Wanderers 1-0 in the Estadio Nacional. The result combined with Cobresal’s earlier results means that Wanderers are the only team without a point in the Torneo Transición. The only goal of the game came in the 55th minute courtesy of Juan Guillermo Domínguez.
Primera Division Torneo Transición 2013 , Round four fixtures
O’Higgins 3-2 Palestino (J. Silva (PAL) 15′ & 62′, M. Escalona (PAL) (og) 19′, B. Sagredo (OHI) 83′, P. Calandria (OHI) 87′)
U. Española 4-0 A. Italiano (P. Rubio (UE) 24′ & 32′, S. Jaime (UE) 38′ & 46′)
Everton 1-1 U. de Chile (J. Romo (EVE) 44′, S. Ubilla (UDC) 45′)
U. La Calera 1-0 Iquique (M. Bajter (ULC) 22′)
U. Católica 4-2 Antofagasta (I. Sosa (UC) 8′ & 54′, C. Bueno (UC) 10′ & 33′, F. Cordero (UC) (og) 27′, E. González (ANT) 67′)
SM Arica 0-4 Ñublense (J. Grbec (NUB) 13′, M. Riquero (NUB) 36′, M. Gómez (NUB) 84′ & 87′)
Cobresal 2-2 Rangers (D. Martínez (RAN) 13’, J. Casado (RAN) 68’, F. Salinas (CBS) 81, E. Cantero (CBS) 87’)
Cobreloa 3-3 Huachipato (M.S. Pol (CBA) 22′ & 64′, D. Llanos (HU) 50′, N. Núñez (HU) 65′ & 88′, C. Suárez (CBA) 92′)
Colo Colo 1-0 S. Wanderers (J.G. Domínguez (CC) 55′)
Photo taken from elgrafico.cl
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