With 90 minutes left in the 2024 season, O’Higgins is virtually free of relegation, but mathematically he is still at risk, minimal, but real.
After falling 3-1 against Cobresal at the El Cobre stadium in El Salvador, the celestials would fall to B as long as they lose by a difference of 8 goals against Cobreloa next Sunday in Rancagua.
Now, the mood in Calama is not optimistic at all, because just seeing the faces of the players and fans after equalizing against the Universidad Católica – a match that they perfectly could have won – practically considers themselves relegated, because although on paper it may be give yourself a miracle, it is almost impossible to achieve it.
AFTER 45 MINUTES THEY MELTED
In El Salvador, O’Higgins had intelligently proposed a duel against Cobresal. He gave him the ground, he tried to go against it and take advantage of any mistake to score.
This is what Arnaldo Castillo did in the 30s, recovering in the rival zone, turning towards the rival goal and taking a shot that was impossible for Leandro Requena to stop. It was 0-1, an opening score that was even justified, because up to that point in the match the Rancagüino team had had the clearest opportunities.
Of course, at the close of the first stage, in the 37th minute, an error by goalkeeper Diego Carreño – who was unable to pocket a ball and left it slicing towards the six-yard box – gave Andrés Vilches the opportunity to establish parity. In the entire first half, the shot that the goal couldn’t contain was the only copper-salt shot aimed at goal.
And everything good that could have been done in the initial 45 minutes collapsed in the second half. The local team accelerated, squeezed their best men and with that alone they overcame Víctor Fuentes’ team.
In the 52nd minute, Vilches repeated after taking advantage – again – of a ball given by Carreño, and with that 2-1 O’Higgins died on the field.
Later, in the 66th minute, Leonardo Valencia sealed the action with a 3-1 scoreline that ruined Rancagüinas aspirations. Despite subsequent modifications, the team did not manage to get close, except for a cross shot from Castillo.
End of the game and all that remained was to hope that Cobreloa did not score a third goal in Calama. Five minutes later, the match ended there and with a three-point difference, but with 9 goals behind, O’Higgins is practically safe from all risks. Of course, in the history between both teams, the Loíno team once won 10-0 and 8-1, scores that were recorded in the heights of the Atacama region.
WHAT WAS SAID
After the game, coach Víctor Fuentes pointed out that regarding this fall, the fourth in a row, that “the approach, I told you this week, was to have the lines together. Unfortunately we defended him very far back when many times we had to start playing and go out, in fact in the first half we scored a goal and we had two more options. The plan was happening, it was just that we were defending very close to the goal.”
Regarding the string of defeats, he added that “we lost these four games due to our individual mistakes and not due to team concepts. Let’s hope to get to Sunday and achieve a victory in Rancagua.”
“We deserve the bitching,” said Joaquín Montecinos after the match. The fans who arrived in El Salvador did not leave satisfied at all and returned to Rancagua biting with rage.
Now, regarding that mathematical option regarding relegation, Fuentes said that “as long as there is a possibility, I think the opposing team is going to play its best. “I spoke with the players and told them that we have to win in Rancagua, that has already been discussed.”
Meanwhile, sports manager Pablo Calandria declared that “all in all, the results favored us. In fact, we are not saved yet, we should lose by eight goals, but we must finish next weekend by closing the stay at home.”
Finally, the former scorer expressed that regarding the moment, “there is no need to make excuses, because we were getting into the last six dates and we couldn’t get out. Now, we have a difficult date left, at home.”