Nacional de Montevideo defeated Unión de Santa Fe 2-0 with authority and experience in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana, in a match played at the Gran Parque Central stadium in the Uruguayan capital.
The goals of the team led by Pablo Repetto were converted in the first half by striker Franco Fagúndez and winger Leandro Lozano, with a ‘three-finger’ missile from outside the area.
The revenge match will be held on Tuesday, July 5 at the 15 de Abril stadium in the capital of Santa Fe.
The technician Repetto faced the game with four casualties due to coronavirus, but he also formed a group of weight and with names of experience. And Nacional showed his teeth from the beginning, when Fagúndez received a lateral in the area, he turned around and finished off, but Mele covered up and confirmed the success in hiring him.
After three minutes, Trezza dragged several players parallel to the area line and passed it to Fagúndez, who hit it with great quality from the right and put it down near the left post of the ‘tatengue’ goalkeeper.
Union came after a good play in which Gallegos defined and Rochet covered very well. Then the goalkeeper won the rebound against two other players from Santa Fe.
Enzo Roldán and Machuca managed the recovery, while Portillo and Zenón looked to move more on the attack, with the help of winger Federico Vera to feed both Luna Diale and Gallegos.
Nacional extended their difference at 21, in a corner that Gallegos rejected and that Lozano captured outside the area. The winger took a shot with the outer edge of his right foot and nailed the ball into the angle of Mele’s far post, to give the second to “Bolso”.
In the second half, Unión went on top of Nacional, who cautiously backed away a few meters, but without piling up in the area controlled by Rochet. The visiting team dominated the game, with good handling of their midfielders, but Nacional always worried about the weight of their shots.
Both teams moved their benches and at the windows, Repetto took out his two forwards who were very tired, while Munúa chose to change his lanes to feed Luna Diale and Troyansky, positioned as forwards in Rochet’s area.
When Unión needed the discount, Mele had to put on the figure suit again to get the goal from the recently entered Ramírez. With great intelligence and skill, Nacional kept Union under control and put him away from Rochet.
