Last-gasp leveller leaves O’Higgins with bittersweet taste

O’Higgins kept their Copa Libertadores hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Deportivo Cali – but it could have been so much better.

Colombia – The Rancagua outfit led 1-0 going into stoppage time, but were denied when Néstor Camacho struck in the second minute after they failed to clear the ball.

It cost O’Higgins two precious points that would have put them top of Group 3, at least until tonight’s clash between Lanús (Argentina) and Cerro Porteño (Paraguay).

But at least it keeps them in with a shout and means that victory in their final match at home against Lanús on April 8 should be good enough to see them through to the last 16.

Yerson Opazo had given O’Higgins the lead with a spectacular long-range effort into the top corner in the 57^th minute and it looked as though the visitors would hold onto the lead until their late stumble.

O’Higgins boss Eduardo Berizzo said: “We wanted a result that would give us the chance to qualify in the last game and we achieved it.

“Obviously, the victory would have been better and I believe that it would have been just given how the game went.”

Ahead of tonight´s match between Copa Sudamericana holders Lanús and Cerro Porteño, the Paraguayans lead the way with seven points. Second-placed Cali also have seven, O’Higgins are on six and Lanús have four.

Meanwhile, Unión Española made it three wins on the trot in the Clausura with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Palestino at La Cisterna.

Claudio Latorre put the hosts ahead in the seventh minute, but Unión turned the game around in the second half. Matías Campos Toro levelled things up in the 48^th minute and the on-song Carlos Salóm bagged the winner with three minutes left.

Palestino remain sixth, while the rojos have moved above Universidad de Concepción into seventh place.

Tags: Copa Libertadores, Football, O'Higgins, Palestino, Unión Española