Delfin beat Nacional 1-2, will play Caracas in 2nd round of Copa Libertadores

The Ecuadorian Delfin SC managed to advance to the second round of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, after defeating the Paraguayan Nacional in Asuncion 1-2, eliminating the Paraguayan team from the tournament in which they did not participate since finishing as runner-up in 2014.

Delfin were superior in both matches, winning 3-0 in the first leg.

Juan Vieyra scored the consolation goal in the first minute for Nacional, while Roberto Ordonez, in the 41st, and Carlos Garces, in the 43rd, were the architects of Delfin’s victory. The Ecuadorians will next face the Venezuelan Caracas in the first leg of the second round of the tournament on Feb. 6.

As soon as the match began, a foul by Juan Rojas on Danilo Santacruz allowed Vieyra to score the only goal for the Paraguayan team, with a shot from outside the area.

Despite the early goal, the Paraguayans did not dominate the field, and Delfin understood the message and reacted by developing an offensive of successive attacks that kept the ball in the home side field for most of the first half.

After several attempts thwarted by National goalkeeper Santiago Rojas, the first goal for the Ecuadorians arrived in the 41st minute with a shot from Roberto Ordonez after a long run from almost midfield.

Ordonez approached the Paraguayan goal again two minutes later, but an error by Rojas, who came out to avoid the goal, allowed the scorer of Delfin’s second goal to be Carlos Garces, after he recovered the ball.

In the second half, Delfin continued to dominate despite the attempt of National coach, Fernando Gamboa, who in the first minutes tried to reinforce the attack of his squad by having Ricardo Garay and Franco Costa on the field, instead of Jose Velazquez and Eric Cristaldo, respectively.

Delfin’s coach, Fabian Bustos, also reinforced his attack with innings from strikers Alejandro Villalba, Felipe Mejia and Luis Vila and, although they had a couple of clear chances, goalkeeper Santiago Rojas saved Nacional from conceding more goals.