San Luis Taken To The Limit in Quito.

By: Mauro | September 18th, 2008

Now this was a total dark horse candidate for match of the day. I truly expected the Brazilian match up to be the one to watch tonight but it seems that neither Deportivo Quito nor San Luis were willing to take a back seat to anyone. Both played fantastically tonight and the match wasn’t decided until well into stoppage time.

Most teams approach an away match in a cautious manner but tonight, San Luis arrived in Quito with the idea of putting Deportivo away without question. And that means they attacked from the get go. But Deportivo was the team to open up scoring in this match with a fantastic cross from Argentine Martín Mandra to his striking partner, Colombian Leider Preciado who headed it past San Luis keeper, Adrián Martinez, in spectacular fashion. 1-0 to Deportivo Quito.

The match continued to be fast paced with both teams willing to risk their defensive line in order to find each other’s net. It made for a great spectacle. San Luis answered back at Deportivo Quito in the 16th minute when San Luis’ Colombian forward Tressor Moreno placed a beautiful ball to José Martinez who buried it in the back of the net. 1-1.

But that’s not all. Five minutes later, San Luis, taking advantage of Deportivo’s defense that was still reeling from the last goal, attacked again, featuring the same players, Moreno with a long cross to Martinez, who has a ton of time to pick his spot. His favorite? Top left shelf. Deportivo keeper Geovanny Ibarra had no chance. 2-1 to San Luis.

The rhythm of the match did not change, Deportivo and San Luis attacked each other with reckless ababandon and managed to not score another goal in the rest of the half.

But about seven minutes into the second half, with the tempo of the match remaining the same, Deportivo made their home field advantage felt. San Luis keeper Martinez kept out a dangerous free kick but it rebounded off of him and right to Isaac Mina who came barreling into the penalty area after it. With a defender on his back, he slotted it past Martinez for the tying goal. 2-2.

But what seemed only a moment later, Deportivo scored again. This time off a corner kick with Martinez off his line, Luis Checa got his head to it first and put his team ahead. 3-2 to Deportivo. With only one more goal, they could force penalties making this match a real treat to watch from this point forward with a team taking all the chances they could.

Deportivo came very close to getting their third goal in the 63rd minute off a broken play in the penalty area where Preciado got a head on it, it hit the crossbar and landed just outside the goal line in time for Martinez’ best play of the match.

Despite Deportivo’s best efforts, they were unable to score one more to extend the drama on the cool night in Quito. Final Score: 3-2 to Deportivo, but well short of what they would need to qualify for the next round. San Luis advance on aggregate, 5-4 with two away goals in their favor.

I had this match ending 2-1 to Deportivo. I was off by a couple of goals but the difference between the two sides was correct. Also, I knew that Deportivo’s back line would be unable to keep their keeper’s sheet clean.

While Deportivo have a tight little team here, their defense left something to be desired. San Luis have a tough squad, good at the front with many options, from Moreno to Martinez to Braulio Luna to Argentine midfielder Eduardo Coudet. San Luis face Argentinos Juniors in the Round of 16 who I can bet will not do well in the away match.

While Deportivo have a tight little team here, their defense left something to be desired. San Luis have a solid squad, good at the front with many options and plenty of varied experience including Moreno and Martinez up front to Braulio Luna and Argentine Eduardo Coudet in the midfield. San Luis face Argentinos Juniors who I can bet, right now, will not do well in the away match in Mexico. Sorry Jeremy, Argentine sides (with the possible exception of Boca) do not do very well when they travel to Mexico.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get one here.