Cusco saw off Cajamarca 2:1 in the Clausura round ten clash on Friday night. The visitors, sitting fifth on 45 points, took the lead through Ivan Colman before Cajamarca levelled via José Mauricio Arrasco Calderón. A penalty after a VAR check at the break put the game beyond doubt.
Colman struck at sixteen, putting Cusco ahead early. Cajamarca responded quickly — Arrasco Calderón equalised at twenty-six. By then the visitors had seen a penalty awarded on forty-fourth minute following a VAR intervention. Facundo Callejo converted at forty-five-plus-one, and here's the thing: the opener had not even been a penalty, just a decision that stuck.
Cajamarca pressed with possession but could not find rhythm. They completed 349 of 411 passes, 53 per cent, and launched 100 attacks. Cusco managed 78. The hosts registered six shots on target, but only one found the net. The visitors scored twice from three attempts on target. Big chances created tell the story — Cajamarca produced none, Cusco one.
The table reflects the gap. Cajamarca sit fifteenth after 27 games with 27 points, seven wins and fourteen defeats. Cusco occupy fifth, fourteen wins from the same run. The visitors ended a run of one win in three — they lost to Melgar on the twelfth, then beat UCv Moquegua and Cienzano. The home side had won 2:1 against Cultural-Sant Rosa on the twelfth, but lost 2:5 to Cienzano and 1:3 to Atlético Grau since.
We had tipped Cajamarca to win, 40 per cent confidence. The match went another way. What shifted it was that VAR decision — not the penalty itself, but the timing. Cajamarca had their head in the game, then suddenly they were chasing. The high line was picked apart, and by then the visitors had one foot in the next phase.
