Internacional beats Nacional and only depends on themselves to advance in the Libertador
Goals from young Ricardo Mathias, Roger’s bet for the match in Uruguay, and Aguirre put the team from Rio Grande do Sul back in second place in Group F
Summary
Inter took to the field to take few risks against Nacional at Parque Central on Thursday night, for the 5th round of Group F of the Conmebol Libertadores, and was rewarded with a 2-0 victory. With a practically perfect strategy in front of a packed stadium in Uruguay, young Ricardo Mathias, a bet by coach Roger Machado, scored the first goal at the end of the first half. In injury time, in a counterattack in which he dribbled past the goalkeeper, Aguirre came in with the ball and everything to close the score. Thus, the team from Rio Grande do Sul only depends on its own strength in the last game to advance to the round of 16.
How it looks
Inter return to second place in Group F with eight points and eliminate Nacional, who are stuck on four. The leader is Atlético Nacional, with nine, and Bahia drops to third, with seven.
Everything for the 28th
The last round of Group F will be played at 7pm on May 28. Inter will host Bahia at Beira-Rio, while Nacional, already eliminated, will face Atlético Nacional, again in Montevideo
Therefore, Colorado only needs to draw at home in the Brazilian duel in the group to guarantee a place in the round of 16. And they can still dream of first place, if they win and count on Atlético slipping up in Uruguay.
First half
Roger Machado kept the three-man defensive midfielder scheme from the last few matches, but replaced the center forwards – Lucca with Ricardo Mathias. And right in the first minute, the fans who were not paying attention missed Nico López’s disallowed goal, due to offside. Inter’s measured stance made the game lukewarm. At 10 minutes, Baez misplaced a pass on Nacional’s exit, Alan Patrick got the ball, but ended up being disarmed by Coates at the right time. Then, in a counterattack, Wesley found Alan Patrick on the left, and the number 10 kicked firmly, which Mejía saved. On the corner, Thiago Maia tried a bicycle kick, over the goal. Then, the game went into a slump. Only at 40 minutes did another important move occur. Wesley crossed from the midfield to Thiago Maia’s head, who hit the right corner of Mejía’s goal. But the goal was disallowed for offside. Before half-time, Wesley found Aguirre on the right wing and he crossed low. Ricardo Mathias got ahead of the scoreboard and scored: Inter 1-0.
Second half
With two changes during the break, Nacional adopted a more offensive stance in search of a result. But Ricardo Mathias had two good chances at the beginning of the second half. At seven minutes, Thiago Maia was replaced by Ronaldo, who was fouled by Nico López a minute later and saw the former Colorado player hit the crossbar with a bomb. After the scare, Roger stopped the game at 15 minutes to change three players. Gustavo Prado, Bruno Tabata and Juninho came on in place of Ricardo Mathias, Bruno Henrique and Victor Gabriel. While Nico López was the only Nacional player to pose any threat to the Colorados, Inter kept up the pace. In two plays with Alan Patrick on the left, first Bernabei and then Gustavo Prado almost extended the lead. At the last minute, Bruno Tabata disarmed a corner kick from Nacional, and Alan Patrick sent Aguirre at speed across the field. He even dribbled past the goalkeeper and came in with the ball and everything to close the score.
