Melgar vs Internacional
A brace from Bernardo Cuesta allowed Melgar FBC to beat Deportivo Cali 2-1 at home and, along with a scoreless away draw in the first leg, to reach the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals. Last Friday, the team also won over UTC Cajamarca 1-0 at home to make it nine points in four matches in the Peruvian Torneo Clausura, four behind leaders Alianza Lima (but holding a game in hand). Considering they lifted the Torneo Apertura, Melgar won nine and drew two of their last 12 matches in all competitions, losing only one of those. At home, they claimed 16 victories across the last 17 games, succumbing to a single defeat.
Meanwhile, Internacional came from behind against Colo Colo and reversed the aggregate result by beating them 4-1 at home after a 2-0 away loss in the first leg. On Sunday, O Colorado also won over Atletico Mineiro 3-0 at home, which allowed them to stop a three-game winless streak of two draws and one loss in all competitions and climb into the sixth place in the Brasileirao table (the last Copa Libertadores berth) with 33 points in 20 matches. On a sorry note, Inter are on four winless matches on the road, having drawn two and lost two since beating Goias 2-1 in June.
I like this surprising Melgar team that has been strong at home where they have a 3000 mts altitude factor on their favour, and I think they can keep this great run going despite the recent coach change (Nestor Lorenzo left the club to become Colombia’s national team manager).