Challenge

La Ciudadela
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) San Martin de Tucuman's Paulino Lamberto started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. 4 minutes into the game, San Martin de Tucuman's Luciano Selmo nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Dante Lacasa made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-0. San Martin de Tucuman's Cecilio Jax played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Gaona in the 9th minute of play. 10 minutes into the game, Mexico's Alberto Tafalla nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Cecilio Jax made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-1. Lorenzo Cazalla hit a great freekick 14 minutes into the match. 15 minutes into the match, Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Paulino Lamberto. Paulino Lamberto sent away a hard shot on goal in the 17th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 24th minute of play forced San Martin de Tucuman's goalkeeper Cecilio Jax to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa made an important save on a dangerous shot by Luciano Selmo in the 26th minute. In the 32nd minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Cecilio Jax saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 36th minute of play forced San Martin de Tucuman's goalkeeper Cecilio Jax to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 36th minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Cecilio Jax saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Cecilio Jax showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 39th minute of the match. With a little luck, Mexico's Dante Lacasa got control of the ball when Paulino Lamberto tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 42nd minute Lautaro Mancebo shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Cecilio Jax saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Dante Lacasa made an important save on a dangerous shot by Carmelo Osoitz in the 43rd minute. After a rather tough play, Mexico's Facundo Cadaval got a free kick in the 46th minute. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Joel Gaona to make the kick off. The supporters of San Martin de Tucuman booed when Mexico was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 50 match minutes in a wonderful position. Joel Gaona didn't get a good kick on the ball. 52 minutes into the match, San Martin de Tucuman's goal looked a bit too open when Alberto Tafalla came free, but Cecilio Jax reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 54th minute of play forced San Martin de Tucuman's goalkeeper Cecilio Jax to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Carmelo Osoitz in the 55th minute of the match. In the 59th match minute, Mexico was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Felix Luque to maneuver through the defense. Felix Luque kicked well hit freekick during the 61st minute of the match. In the 63rd minute Carmelo Osoitz shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dante Lacasa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 66th minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Cecilio Jax saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Cecilio Jax made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 68th minute of play. Cecilio Jax was out of position in the 70 minute of play, and Alberto Tafalla capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Alberto Tafalla really showed his touch with that goal: 2-2. San Martin de Tucuman's Severino Elorri was substituted for Ubaldo Veto. An unexpectedly hard shot by Carmelo Osoitz in the 75th minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 83rd minute, Joel Gaona hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 87th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Cecilio Jax took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After having played for 90 minutes, Marcial Munio managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. San Martin de Tucuman's supporters crossed their fingers, but Marcial Munio was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal.