Unión lose to Central Córdoba after set-piece goal in lacklustre match | OneFootball

For the fourth round of the Torneo Apertura, Unión had on paper a match to aim higher against a Central Córdoba that hadn't won in the tournament and had gone 439 minutes without scoring. They were also coming off a 4-0 victory against Gimnasia de Mendoza, and everything indicated it could be a good night at the Madre de Ciudades. But the opposite happened.

The first half was dull, boring, and without any situations. Unión didn't create any danger, just a single shot on goal, the same as the home team. At 10 minutes, there was a strong foul by Tijanovich on Mauro Pittón that wasn't even reviewed, in an action that could have changed the course of the game. The Ferroviario relied almost exclusively on crosses, left spaces, but the Tatengue neither knew how nor could take advantage of them. There was no clear dominator, and the match was more prone to confusion than to play. The defense responded without any scares, although the lack of ideas from midfield forward was already noticeable.

At the start of the second half, Lucas Pusineri read the game and quickly made substitutions: he brought in Marco Iacobelli, who would end up being key, and sought a different dynamic. On Unión's side, Madelón waited. He only switched Palacios and Del Blanco from one side to the other, but didn't change names or refresh the team until well into the second half.

And the match broke where many even matches break: on a set piece. Iacobelli took charge of the delivery after Michael Santos's express request. A tight cross, weak marking, Unión poorly positioned, and Santos was the most alert of all to understand the value of that set piece in such a match and pushed it into the goal, ending a long drought for the home team. A direct hit to the Tatengue's chin.

From then on, Unión didn't know how to react. The changes came late and poorly. Tarragona was taken off, but not Estigarribia, Palavecino and Colazo came in, but the team never found clarity or depth. It was all disordered push, more desire than ideas, and just a header from Estigarribia that Aguerre handled well.

The end found Unión confused, without answers, and paying dearly for a match they lost on their own. For not creating, for not changing in time, and for not reading the development better. Central Córdoba, with very little, took it all. Unión returned to Santa Fe empty-handed and with the feeling of having missed a clear opportunity.

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