The Technical Director Alfredo Arias

With his suitcases packed even though he has one more match to coach, technician Alfredo Arias said goodbye to George Capwell Stadium with a hard-fought victory. Emelec defeated Delfín 2-1 on Friday night in the opening of the 13th round of the national championship.

Ayrton Preciado (40m) from a penalty kick, and Fernando Luna (81m) with a powerful shot from outside the box, allowed the Uruguayan coach to have his farewell from the electric bench, although with a touch of suffering because the cetaceans - with ten players - defeated the defense and goalkeeper Esteban Dreer with a set-play goal finished by Geovanny Nazareno (72m).

With the win, Emelec reached 22 points and climbed to fourth place in the table.

Arias did not have midfielder Pedro Quiñónez tonight, nor forwards Brayan Angulo and Marlon De Jesús, all due to different physical issues. Defenders Jorge Guagua and Francisco Silva were not considered and missed the farewell of the coach, who was interviewed this week by two envoys from the University of Chile.

Despite the absences, the "Millionaires" showed a good image in the first half with a standout performance by Carlos Orejuela; likewise Joao Rojas, who lacked decision to score in the box. Both players connected with Ayrton Preciado, the electric figure.

Emelec controlled the actions and could have taken the lead in the first minute if Joao Rojas had not hesitated in the execution. In an ideal position, without marking, Rojas stumbled and failed to strike the ball.

Hólger Matamoros also had a chance in front of the goal, but his shot went too high without any placement (12m).

They also tried with set-plays. Matamoros sent a perfect assist to Preciado, who shot under pressure near the post (17m).

Preciado kept insisting and in the 29th minute he connected with Orejuela, who enabled him on the left side, and the latter sent a low cross that went through the six-yard box. No one could push the ball in.

Emelec opened the scoring after the foul in the box by cetacean defender Bruno Piñatares against midfielder Hólger Matamoros.

Preciado took care of the penalty kick and his execution resulted in the 1-0 for the blue team in the 40th minute.

In the final moments, Delfín scared with a set-play move formulated by Henry Patta sending Pedro Perlaza down the line; he crossed the ball venomously, but goalkeeper Dreer (44m) made a last-minute save to go to halftime with the partial victory.

In the second half, the Matamoros-Rojas partnership sent a warning to the mantenses. From a great assist, Rojas controlled the ball with his chest and finished without delay, but goalkeeper Ortiz saved it in two attempts (54m).

Delfín got closer with a shot from Francisco Mera just outside the area (57m), and a minute later defender Roberto Luzarraga left his team with one less player. It seemed that Emelec could control the game with the score in their favor; however, Carlos Garcés prevented -with his arm- a free-kick from Matamoros from going in at the second post (66m).

In the television replay, it can be seen that the cetacean forward interfered with the ball's trajectory, sending it out for a corner kick.

Orejuela, with confidence tonight, also sought his goal by striking first time a cross from Matamoros, but he missed the target (69m).

The surprise came in the 72nd minute with a set-play move. Delfín implemented another set-play move that left the electric wall badly positioned. Nazareno received a ball at mid-height and beat Dreer. It was the equalizing goal.

Emelec entered a period of lethargy and gave facilities to their opponent, who with little effort managed to get close to Dreer's area.

But Arias' team would wake up at times. In the 75th minute, Ortiz saved a shot from Juan Carlos Paredes and reacted in time to control the rebound, which was already out of bounds.

Finally, an error in Ortiz's build-up play would lead to Emelec's second goal. There was no foul against the cetacean goalkeeper, and with a powerful shot from outside the box, Fernando Luna scored to secure the 2-1 victory in the 81st minute.

Jefferson Montero could have scored the third goal after a great play he created with Luna, but the shot from the winger -with his right foot- hit Ortiz (84m).

Emelec would also finish the match with ten players, due to the expulsion of defender Fernando Pinillo.

Arias will coach the Copa Libertadores match against Flamengo in Brazil, and that will mark the end of his tenure as Emelec's head coach.

Lineups:

Emelec: Dreer; Paredes, Jaime (Pinillo, 65m), Mejía, Bagüí; Arroyo, Lastra, Orejuela Matamoros (Luna, 72m); Rojas (Montero, 55m) Preciado. DT: Alfredo Arias

Delfín: Ortiz; Perlaza, Luna, Luzarraga, Nazareno; Bolaños (Mera, 46m), Piñatares, Godoy, Patta (Oña, 66m); Romero (Cangá, 59m), Garcés. DT: Fabián Bustos

Referee: Luis Quiroz. Booked Lastra (25m); Bagüí (25m), for Emelec; Luna (85m), for Delfín. Sent off Pinillo (87m), for Emelec; Luzarraga (58m), for Delfín.

Stadium: George Capwell. (D)