Five-star Colo Colo and la U impress

Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile stole the show with five-goal displays in the fourth round of the Clausura.

Iquique – After Palestino went top with their last-gasp 1-0 victory against Universidad de Concepción on Friday night, the onus was on Colo Colo to see if they could join them at the summit.

On paper, the trip to Iquique seemed a tough one, but the albos ran out convincing 5-2 winners to suggest they could be realistic title contenders this time around.

Gonzalo Fierro led the way with two goals, one from the penalty spot, and Emiliano Vecchio, Esteban Paredes and Felipe Flores, also from the spot, joined him on the scoresheet.

Manuel Villalobos and Santiago Romero scored excellent consolation goals for Iquique.

Colo Colo boss Héctor Tapia said: “We beat a tough team like Iquique that have very good players. To be able to win like that as a team leaves you happy and satisfied.”

Universidad de Chile began the reign of new boss Cristián Romero with a stunning 5-0 romp against Ñublense.

A revitalised Pato Rubio struck twice, while Roberto Cereceda, Fabián Carmona and Francisco Castro also netted.

A delighted Romero said: “I´m very happy with what we showed. The fans went home happy because this is what they wanted to see and that is total merit of the players.”

Champions O´Higgins ruined Nelson Acosta´s opening match in charge of Everton, triumphing 2-0 in Quillota. Substitute Diego Chaves opened the scoring two minutes into the second half and a superb individual goal from Luis Pedro Figueroa sealed it on 68 minutes.

The Rancagua outfit lie fourth and are still unbeaten as they defend their title.

Mario Berríos scored twice, once from the spot, as Unión La Calera enjoyed a 3-1 home victory against struggling Rangers, while Gustavo Canales was also at the double as Unión Española won 2-1 at Huachipato.

Antofagasta also bagged their first win of the season, courtesy of Cristián Canío´s 51^st-minute goal against Cobresal.

The only draw of the round saw Audax Italiano and Universidad Católica finish 1-1. Diego Rojas gave Católica a first half lead, but the game changed five minutes into the second half when Católica keeper Cristopher Toselli was controversially sent off for handling outside the area.

From the resulting free-kick, Marco Medel whipped a perfect free-kick into the top corner for the equaliser.

Santiago Wanderers host Cobreloa in the remaining game this evening.