11/17/2021 at 05:10 CET
Douglas Marín (.)
A last-gasp goal by Gerson Torres gave Costa Rica a long-suffering 2-1 victory over Honduras on Tuesday that allows him to maintain the hopes of fighting for a pass to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, while the Hondurans are left with remote mathematical possibilities.
Óscar Duarte opened the account in minute 20, Rommel Quioto tied in 35 and when the fifth minute of replacement was played in the second half, a saving header from Gerson Torres it meant victory for Costa Rica.
With this result the ticos reach 9 points after 8 rounds of the octagonal final of the Concacaf and remains in fifth place and Honduras is bottom with only 3 units.
Honduras started the match pressing the exit from Costa Rica looking to open the scoring, but the local defense prevailed and little by little the game became even.
The first clear play was a shot from the Costa Rican attacker José Guillermo Ortiz who crashed into the vertical and then, in the 20th minute, after a series of consecutive corner kicks, Óscar Duarte got the first goal with a header who beat the Honduran goalkeeper Luis López.
Honduras went on the attack and had several clear chances with a shot to the post by Rodríguez and two spectacular saves by Keylor Navas against point-blank shots from Rommel Quioto.
The Honduran insistence had its prize in the 35th minute when Quioto dominated a long pass, eluded Duarte and finished crossed against Navas for 1-1.
Costa Rica came out of the pressure of the rival and he almost went to rest with the advantage on the scoreboard through a free kick from Joel Campbell that crashed into the vertical and López, who also made a great cover to an Ortiz shot in the small area.
With the obligation to win to get out of the basement, Honduras dominated the first quarter of the second half and he ran into Keylor’s hands three times, who denied Edwin Rodríguez the goal.
Alberth Elis was a headache For the Costa Rican rear and with his overflows, he was the main figure in the Catracho team led by Colombian coach Hernán Darío Gómez.
Costa Rica signed a bad second half, with few scoring chances and holding onto Navas’ saves, but in the last minute of the engagement Campbell made one of his characteristic showy plays on the side of the area, sent a cross to the head of Johan Venegas and he passed it to Torres who, alone, in the area, scored the winning goal.
The triumph keeps Costa Rica alive in the tie with a goal that appeared when the 8,000 fans who were allowed to enter the National Stadium of San José during the pandemic, clamored for the departure of Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suárez.
– Data sheet:
2. Costa Rica: Keylor Navas; Keysher Fuller, Francisco Calvo, Óscar Duarte, Ronald Matarrita (Kendall Waston, m.68); Yeltsin Tejeda (Johan Venegas, m.85), Orlando Galo (Celso Borges, m.68), Aaron Suárez (Bryan Ruiz, m.46); Joel Campbell, Jewison Bennette (Gerson Torres, m.78), and José Ortiz.
Coach: Luis Fernando Suárez.
1. Honduras: Luis Lopez; Maynor Figueroa, Carlos Meléndez, Kevin Álvarez (Dennis Maldonado, m.78), Omar Elvir; Bryan Acosta (Kevin Arriaga, m.78), Alfredo Mejía, Edwin Rodríguez (Alex López, m.80); Alberth Elis, Brayan Moya (Rubilio Castillo, m.89) and Rommel Quioto.
Coach: Hernán Darío Gómez.
Referee: Jair Marrufo. He admonished the Costa Rican Campbell.
Goals: 1-0, m.20: Duarte. 1-1, m.35: Quioto. 2-1, m.95: Torres.
Incidents: Match of the eighth day of the octagonal final of Concacaf towards the World Cup in Qatar 2022, played at the National Stadium of San José.