Arroyito was rocking, but Canalla drew a blank on Libertadores debut | OneFootball

Ángel Di María played in the Copa again for Central after 20 years and was the focal point of a team that always looked to attack. Despite playing almost the entire second half with an extra man after Sornoza was sent off, Almirón’s side lacked sharpness in front of goal and had to settle for a draw at the Gigante.

The Gigante de Arroyito was packed to witness Ángel Di María’s return to the Libertadores wearing the shirt he loves most. And Ángel delivered: he nutmegged defenders, tried to score directly from a corner, and pulled all the strings, showing that his technique is as sharp as ever.

From a footballing standpoint, the match had everything. Early on, Independiente del Valle stood firm and could even have taken something from the game if “Cocoliso” González hadn’t missed an unbelievable chance in front of Ledesma’s goal. But in the second half, Central came out all guns blazing. The match tilted in the home side’s favor when Junior Sornoza was shown a red card for a slap on Ovando.

From that point on, Jorge Almirón went for broke. He sent Copetti onto the pitch to partner Alejo Véliz, and Canalla became a purely attacking side. Véliz thought he had scored, but it was ruled out for offside, and after that the ball simply refused to go in. Central created countless chances, but failed to land the final blow and ended up ruing the two points left behind at home.

Now the situation leaves no choice. With Universidad Central leading the group after beating Olimpia, Canalla have to go to Paraguay next Wednesday and get the points. There is no margin for error if they want to make a real impact in this Copa.

Rosario Central did all the hard work, but lacked the goal. Next Wednesday against Olimpia they have a chance to make amends and show they are ready to fight near the top.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.