Santa Fe remain in first place in the Colombian Liga Postobon following a 1-0 win at Deportivo Pereira, while Deportes Tolima beat Boyaca Chico 3-1 to move into second place at the expense of Cucuta.
After Cucuta’s 1-0 loss at Atletico Nacional on Saturday, Santa Fe had an opportunity to gain further distance from their nearest rivals for the top spot. At Pereira, a goal from Mario Gonzalez in the 58th minute was enough for the Bogota side to secure a 1-0 win and leave Cucuta at a four-point gap.
But there might be a new enemy at the gate for Santa Fe as Tolima are only two points behind after their convincing 3-1 win over Boyaca Chico. Rodrigo Marangoni and Wilder Medina handed the Ibague outfit a comfortable lead in the first half but Antonhy Tapia did pull one back in the 34th minute. Jorge Perlaza added a third for the home side to remove all doubt.
Atletico Huila dropped to fourth place, suffering a painful 4-1 defeat at La Equidad who in turn climbed to fifth. Camilo Ayala put La Equidad ahead in the 32nd minute and second-half goals from David Castro, Renzo Sheput and again Ayala gave the hosts a very comfortable 4-0 lead. Carlos Carbonero scored one back late on to save some of Huila’s pride.
Once Caldas wrestled their way into the top eight of the classification thanks to a hard-fought 1-2 win at Millonarios in the capital city. Dayro Moreno’s opening goal for Once in the 11th minute was canceled out by Alejandro Cichero in the 26th, but Fernando Uribe netted the winner in the away side’s advantage on 77 minutes.
In Sunday’s remaining games, America de Cali earned a 1-3 win at Envigado, who suffered their sixth defeat in a row, and Real Cartagena beat Cortulua 1-0.
Currently on course for a spot in the next round are Santa Fe, Tolima, Cucuta, Huila, La Equidad, Quindio, Boyaca Chico and Once Caldas.