Rosario Central lost against Fortaleza in Brazil and was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana

Rosario Central was eliminated from the Copa Sudamericana (Credit: @RosarioCentral)

Fortaleza defeated Rosario Central 3-1 in the Brazilian state of Ceará and took advantage of the draw achieved at the Gigante de Arroyito to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana, where they will face Corinthians.

The first half was notable for everything that was not played. Infractions took away dynamism from the match, which was stopped at many moments to attend to the players of both teams. Arrivals at the goals were a rare commodity, in which approaches by Maximiliano Lovera and Franco Ibarra stood out.

Canalla came out for the second half with a significant change: Luca Martinez Dupuy for Enzo Copetti. The newcomer had not played with this shirt since May and had to come onto the field to take the place of the attacker, who was not in full physical condition for this match. The offensive zone was the visitor’s weakness, as they did not have Marco Ruben, Agustín Módica (both injured) and Jáminton Campaz, suspended.

Under this scenario, a component that was recorded in the first leg was repeated: immediacy. In the first duel, the two goals that led to the 1-1 scoreline took place in a matter of four minutes. Now, the first emotions came in five.

The match is being played in the Brazilian state of Ceará (Credit: @RosarioCentral)

At 47′, a precise cross from Ignacio Malcorra found Facundo Mallo’s right foot to make it 1-0 at the Castelão Stadium. The team led by Matías Lequi, who took over on an interim basis replacing Miguel Ángel Russo, was unable to sustain the favorable result because Fortaleza tied the game at 52′ courtesy of Juan Martín Lucero after a pass from Yago Pikachu.

The assistant put on his goal-scoring suit to score the 2-1 with 13 minutes left in regulation time. And Sasha closed the deal with the final score of 3-1 during the extra time given by the Uruguayan referee, Esteban Ostojich.

With this defeat, Rosario Central put an end to a six-match unbeaten streak in the round of 16 in Conmebol competitions with three wins and the same number of draws. This streak included four clashes against Brazilian rivals (2 wins and 2 draws).

With this victory, the team led by the Argentine, Juan Pablo Vojvoda, has a streak of six wins and four draws in regular time in the qualifying matches valid for the Copa Sudamericana. They have only lost 1 of their 10 head-to-head matches in this competition, and it was against Independiente in the first phase of 2020 (1-0). It is worth noting that they are coming off being the last finalist and fell in the penalty shootout against Liga de Quito in Uruguay.

Fortaleza will face Corinthians in the quarter-finals, after beating Bragantino in the penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw in the 180 minutes. This round will be played on the weeks of 18 and 25 September.

Formations:

Strength: Joao Ricardo; Tinga, Benjamín Kuscevic, Tomás Cardona, Bruno Pacheco; José Welison, Pedro Augusto; Breno Lopes, Tomás Pochettino, Yago Pikachu; and Juan Lucero. DT: Juan Pablo Vojvoda.

Rosario Central: Jorge Broun; Coach: Matias Lequi.

Referee: Esteban Ostojich

VAR: Andrés Cunha

Stadium: Castelao