QUITO (AP) — Ecuador derrotó 3-1 a Chile el viernes con dos goles de Felipe Caicedo, con lo cual se mantuvo en el lote puntero, mientras que "La Roja" pareció tocar fondo, cuando se disputa la octava fecha de las eliminatorias.

El primer gol del encuentro llegó a los 24 minutos cuando Mauricio Isla llegó a profundidad por la derecha del campo y, al poner una bola en el centro del área ecuatoriana, el defensa ecuatoriano Juan Carlos Paredes, intentó rechazar pero remató a su propio arco. El portero Alexander Domínguez nada pudo hacer para evitar la caída. Esta anotación fue la primera que recibe Ecuador en su territorio.

Ecuador puso el tanto del empate a los 32 minutos cuando Luis Saritama robó un balón al volante chileno Matías Fernández cerca de la media cancha, de lo cual se aprovechó Caicedo, el artillero del Lokomotiv de Rusia, para enfrentar y eludir al arquero y a un defensa visitantes, antes de anotar.

El segundo gol ecuatoriano se produjo a los 56 minutos luego de una falta penal en contra de Renato Ibarra. Ejecutó el tiro Caicedo, quien introdujo el balón en un segundo remate porque Pinto había desviado inicialmente.

El último tanto cayó al cierre del partido, después de un tiro libre que logró desviar con su cabeza Segundo Castillo, para ubicar el balón al fondo de las redes chilenas.

El técnico de Ecuador, Reinaldo Rueda, en rueda de prensa, destacó que "fue un partido intenso por la condición del rival, con jugadores de mucho oficio, con mucha historia".

"Todo el grupo hizo un trabajo excelente para contrarrestar a Chile", agregó.

Consideró que Chile "venía con el propósito de hacer su negocio y llevarse los puntos, pero al final Ecuador demostró su madurez, su jerarquía y pudimos sacar un triunfo".

El asistente técnico de Chile, Jaime Vera, manifestó, "todavía tenemos cinco partidos de local y nosotros creemos que tenemos que hacernos fuertes de local y todavía tenemos opciones de clasificar al mundial. Es difícil para el cuerpo técnico perder dos partidos seguidos, no sumar, sabíamos que iba a ser difícil este partido, teníamos la esperanza de sacar buenos resultados".

El técnico Claudio Borghi no se presentó ante la prensa.

Los primeros minutos del cotejo se caracterizaron por una atrevida propuesta de Chile, que puso una marca a presión a los ecuatorianos y llegó con toques precisos hasta el arco de Domínguez, aunque sin mayor peligro.

Ecuador apenas acertó a reaccionar después de los 11 minutos, cuando en una serie de jugadas estuvo a punto de ponerse en ventaja en el marcador mediante jugadas que terminaron con sendos cabezazos de Cristian Benítez, que fueron desviados por el arquero Miguel Pinto o los defensas chilenos.

En el segundo tiempo Ecuador salió decidido a arrinconar a Chile y durante largos pasajes lo tuvo encerrado en su propio campo, especialmente después del segundo gol, cuando además fue expulsado Pablo Contreras, quien había cometido la falta penal.

Chile tuvo ráfagas de buen juego, más por entusiasmo que por buen fútbol, tratando de emparejar el marcador, pero no le alcanzó el tiempo.

A los 80 minutos Arturo Vidal propinó un codazo a Luis Saritama, cuando se le escapaba, y fue expulsado.

Con este resultado Ecuador sumó 16 puntos, mientras que Chile se quedó con 12.

El cotejo se disputó en el estadio Atahualpa en una tarde gris y fría.

___

Alineaciones:

ECUADOR: : Alexander Domínguez, Juan Carlos Paredes, Gabriel Achilier, Fricson Erazo, Wálter Ayoví, Renato Ibarra (Jefferson Montero, 77), Joao Rojas, Segundo Castillo, Luis Saritama, Christian Benítez, Felipe Caicedo (Jaime Ayoví, 67).

CHILE: Miguel Pinto, Pablo Contreras, Osvaldo González, Gonzalo Jara, Mauricio Isla, Marcelo Díaz, Felipe Seymour (Mark González, 67), Jean Beausejour (Eduardo Vargas, 77) Matías Fernández (Junior Fernandes, 60), Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sánchez.

Árbitro: Heber Lopez (Brasil).

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