Paraguay beat Benjamín Aceval 3-1 in the Intermedía regular season on Monday night, extending their own momentum while leaving the hosts to reflect on a result that did not go their way. The visitors came to Asunción with confidence after five straight games without defeat, and they took full advantage of a home side that never quite found its rhythm.
Paraguay struck first through J. Gauto in the 55th minute, a goal that felt like a gift rather than something worked out, and by then the visitors had already settled into a pattern of keeping the ball and probing. R. Escobar added a second in the 65th, and though Aceval pulled one back, they never really got going after that. M. Medina extended the lead in the 87th, and A. Samaniego wrapped it up late on, bringing the total to four goals for the away side — or three, depending on how you count the opening strike, but the result speaks for itself.
Benjamín Aceval dominated possession at 56 per cent and registered 128 attacks, yet only three shots found the target. Paraguay, with 44 per cent of the ball, were more efficient, landing four shots on goal and converting three. The hosts also earned three corners to the visitors' four, and the red card count remained nil for both sides.
What made this match difficult for Aceval was not the opposition's quality so much as their own inability to capitalise. They had been coming off a 2-3 defeat to Deportivo Santaní and a 0-2 loss to Nacional Asunción, and the pattern continued. Paraguay, meanwhile, had won three of their last five and were starting to look comfortable in the top half of the table.
And here's the thing — we had backed Aceval to win, with a 48 per cent confidence level, but the match went another way. The home side's possession numbers meant nothing when they could not break down a compact defence, and the visitors' ability to punish mistakes proved decisive.
After the final whistle, Paraguay moved to eighth place on 32 points, while Aceval remained fourth on 39. The gap between them is narrow, but the psychological weight of this defeat will take some time to shed.
