By Jaime Naranjo Rodríguez

A truly rare event occurred in the match played by Clan Juvenil and Delfin, which ended in a 3-3 draw on the 19th matchday at the General Rumiñahui Stadium in Sangolqui: the cetacean team missed two penalties in front of Wilmer Zumba's goal (one saved by the local goalkeeper and the other hit the crossbar).

If the team from Manta had scored at least one of those penalties, they would have reached 35 points and kept their chances of being direct champions alive.

Check the standings table

Out of nine penalties awarded to them in the tournament, the team from Manabi had scored seven. Against a already relegated opponent, Jacob Murillo's penalty was saved by Zumba and Roberto Ordonez hit the post. Another penalty was awarded to Juan Carlos Albarracin in the match and was converted by Luis Congo of Clan Juvenil.

Precisely, the Sangolqui team is the most punished in this regard: 15 times penalties have been awarded against them and in 10 occasions they have been scored.

After a season, a club misses two penalties in one game. On Sunday, March 6, 2016, Hernan Galindez (Universidad Catolica) saved penalties from Diego Morales (25m) and Jose Francisco Cevallos (88m) for Liga de Quito in a 1-1 draw on matchday six of the first stage.

Top scorers battle
In addition to Emelec and El Nacional's attempt to reach the final, there is also another dispute: the top scorer: Hernan Barcos (Liga de Quito) and Jonatan Alvez (Barcelona SC) both have 19 goals. They are followed by Carlos Garces (Delfin) and Juan Dinenno (Deportivo Cuenca) with 18; and Juan Manuel Tevez (Macara) with 17.

This is reminiscent of the top scorer battle in 1987, when not even on the final matchday there was a winner and Ermen Benitez (El Nacional), Hamilton Cuvi (Filanbanco), and Waldemar Victorino (Liga de Portoviejo) shared the title with 23 goals each.

In the Serie B 2017, the battle for top scorer is between Edson Montano (Aucas) with 19 goals; Jorge Detona (Olmedo) with 17; and Arnaldo Gauna (Santa Rita) with 16 goals. (D)

5 Year Wait
After that time, Técnico Universitario will return to Serie A in 2018, finishing second in 1978 and 1980. Aucas will be back in the top category after two years of absence. (D)