Boca drew 1-1 with Cruzeiro, last-16 spot to be decided on final day | OneFootball

Xeneize took the lead through a goal by Miguel Merentiel, but La Raposa leveled it with a strike from Fagner. Merentiel had the winner ruled out in the second half, and the visitors finished with 10 men after Gerson was sent off.

The home side showed from the start that it had to win and created several early chances. First it was Miguel Merentiel, who got a lucky break on a clearance and forced a save from Otavio, then got on the end of a cross from Lautaro Blanco only to be denied again by the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Milton Giménez had a chance from the rebound of a Tomás Aranda shot, and the goal finally came from a set piece.

Leandro Paredes delivered a free kick aimed at goal that went through the box and found Merentiel arriving at the back post to lift his foot and put Xeneize ahead. After that, possession was more evenly shared, and the visitors, although Matheus Pereira and Gerson handled the ball well, did not threaten much apart from a solo run by Kaio Jorge that Leandro Brey dealt with.

Boca were not clinical against Cruzeiro

The second half began and Cruzeiro started to play. They pushed a few meters higher up the pitch and, after sustained possession, produced a great team move to equalize. Kaiky got the better of Malcom Braida and sent in a cross that found Fagner for the 1-1. The Brazilian side were playing better and came close to taking the lead, with Christian missing his chance, but then they were reduced to ten men.

Gerson went into a challenge with Leandro Paredes and caught him in the knee with his studs. VAR called it back and Jesús Valenzuela showed a red card to the former Roma man. Ubeda’s team regained the initiative and had several more chances, including a free kick from Paredes, a shot from Aranda, and a header from substitute Exequiel Zeballos. Merentiel scored, but it was disallowed by the technology for a previous handball by Milton Delgado.

As the minutes passed, Boca kept piling into the box, even with Ángel Romero, but could not find the breakthrough. The visitors defended as best they could with a man down and were satisfied with the point, remaining in control of their own fate heading into the final round.

In the next matchday, Boca will host Universidad Católica, while Cruzeiro will do the same at home against Barcelona.

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