América de Cali have taken the lead in Group B of the Copa Mustang II
semi final stage with a convincing 3-0 win over Pereira while La
Equidad and Atlético Nacional forgot to score in Group A.
América opened the score after 16 minutes when José Otalvaro converted a penalty kick and Victor Cortés doubled the lead in minute 56.
The third and final goal came in added time as legendary goalkeeper René Higuita stormed away from his goal in an attempt to get to the ball first but instead, it ended up at Paulo Arango who easily netted for 3-0.
Both sides had a player sent off in the 87th minute. América’s Armero and Pereira’s Barahona were both sent for an early shower.
América and Junior lead in Group B, with three points each.
La Equidad hosted Nacional at Bogota’s El Campín stadium instead of their usual but modest venue, El Techo.
Throughout the match, Nacional were the slightly better side but real chances were rare. As a result, the two teams that reached last year’s Copa Mustang II final shared the points in this occasion.
Independiente Medellín are the only team in Group A to have earned three points from their opening game. La Equidad and Nacional share second place, Deportes Tolima are last.