CONMEBOL roundup: 9 March 2011

Colombia


         
Once Caldas are the stand alone leaders with 13 points from their five games after a 1-3 away win aginst Deportes Tolima, the team they beat in the final of the 2010 Clausura. Second place Deportes Quindío fell to their first defeat of the season losing 0-1 at home to Cucuta Deportivo.

Junior are having a great time in the 2011 Copa Libertadores, but back at home their league form is far from great. On Saturday they went down to a 4-1 defeat by Atlético Nacional in a game featuring several quality goals.

Deportivo Cali finally picked up their first points of the season with a 1-0 win against divisional new boys Itagüí Ditaire who still sit in third position. Deportivo Cali were replaced at the bottom of the table by Santa Fe who were beaten 3-1 by Envigado. Deportivo Cali will play another underacheiving side Millonarios next weekend who have climbed up into mid table after a 3-1 win against Boyacá Chicó.

Chile

Reigning champions Universidad Cátolica share the lead with Unión La Calera after seven games, both teams having 16 points. UC beat Palestino 1-2 on the road and Unión LC won their home game against Universidad de Concepción 2-0.

Universidad de Chile fell three points behind the leaders after losing 0-2 at home to Unión San Felipe.

Colo-Colo continued their recovery under new manager Américo Gallego with an impressive 1-2 away win against Unión Española all three of the goals were top quality efforts especially Cristobal Jorquera's fine finish for Colo-Colo's second goal.

Paraguay

Olimpia still lead the way in Paraguay with seven wins out of seven. Guaraní made it tough for Nery Pumpido's side but they prevailed 4-3 in a cracking game to keep their seven point advantage at the top of the table..

Nacional kept up the chase with a 2-0 win against Sol de América who now find themselves propping up the table in 12th place.

Libertad are in third place but have two games in hand on the leaders because of postponments due to their Copa Libertadores commitments. They battered Rubio Ñú 4-1 on Friday night.

Cerro Porteño are another side with games in hand and they managed to scratch out a 0-1 away win against Independiente with a late goal from teenage sensation Juan Manuel Iturbe to give Leonardo Astrada a winning debut as manager of the club.


Uruguay



The whipping boys of the Apertura Tacurembó have really found some form, they are joint top of the table after a 2-1 win against River Plate who remain pointless after five games and rock bottom of the table. Defensor Sporting Club are the other team at the top, they beat El Tanque Sisley 0-1 leaving the minnows joint bottom with no points from their opening three games.

The leaders going into round five were Central Español but they dropped points in a surprise 1-1 draw against Fénix.

The traditional giants of Uruguayan football Nacional and Peñarol both won their games and are far from out ofthe title race, both having a game in hand to play against El Tanque Sisley.

Ecuador

Liga de Quito slipped off the top of the table because their game with Emelec was postponed, they are only one point behind new leaders Deportivo Quito with that game in hand. The new leaders put in a real show of strength demolishing their hosts Independiente 1-6 to bolster their goal difference. Independiente actually took the lead in the fourth minute with a lightning counter attack, they were already 1-2 down when their goalkeeper Librado Azcona was sent off. Deportivo buried the penalty for a 1-3 half time lead. After twelve minutes of the second half their replacement goalkeeper was also sent off for a second bookable offence meaning that the home team had to play the remainder of the match with only eight outfield players and defender David Koob Hurtado playing as a makeshift goalkeeper.

The other side to put in a strong performance over the weekend were Barcelona Sporting Club who crushed bottom of the table ESPOLI 4-1.

Peru

 Alianza Lima overtook Cienciano at the top of the league with a 2-0 win. Cobresol are in third place after a 1-2 away win against Melgar and last year's runners up León recovered from their poor start to the season with a 2-0 win against Universitario.

Venezuela


There were only three games in Venezuela over the weekend and none of the top sides were in action.

Bolivia

There was no domestic football in Bolivia last week.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment