Atlético Nacional visited Once Caldas at Palogrande stadium in Manizales.
A duel with a history of friendship in the benches with Juan Manuel Lillo and Francisco Maturana but high competition on the field. Especially for the locals who had only one option. To beat the league leader.
After 23 minutes without clarity and clear options, Atlético Nacional opened the scoring through Jeison Lucumí who received a pass in the center of the area from Macnelly Torres and with the passivity of the local defense shot to beat goalkeeper José Fernando Cuadrado.
After the goal, Nacional stood better and began to show their superiority. They had no problem keeping the ball and handling it calmly without their rival generating risk in their area. Caldas looked to be struggling in defense and midfield and lacked aggressiveness in their attack.
In the second half, Nacional could increase the lead with a clear chance from Dayro Moreno but also had several arrivals to the area by Lucumí, Nieto and Rentería that wasted the opportunities to have a bigger score.
On the other hand, Once Caldas saw how the visitors controlled the game and did not show much more than what Lillo's team allowed them to do when they had the ball. With their continuity in doubt, Francisco Maturana now awaits the next opponents before finishing the "Todos contra todos" stage: Millonarios, Envigado, Huila, Pasto and Cortuluá.
With this result, Nacional is the leader of the Liga Águila with 34 points while Caldas sinks to the bottom, in 12th place with 17 points.
In the next match, Once Caldas will visit Millonarios at El Campín stadium and Atlético Nacional will not play as they advanced their match for the 16th round against Cortuluá, in which they achieved a three-nil victory.