Universitario secured a 3-2 victory over Cajamarca in the Clausura fifth round of Peru's First Division at the Estadio Héroes del 2 de Mayo on Saturday evening. The visitors, sitting second in the table, took the lead through Alex Valera before Cajamarca rallied with two penalties from Michel Rasmussen. By then, the match had settled into a pattern that would define it — chaotic, unpredictable, and decided in the closing stages.
César Inga gave the hosts the advantage in the 24th minute, but Valera responded just five minutes later. The turning point came in stoppage time when Brandon Palacios was penalised for a handball. Rasmussen converted twice in rapid succession to restore equality, though one of those penalties was perhaps more fortunate than the other. And here's the thing about late penalties — they tend to be the ones that matter most.
Gianluca Lapadula restored Universitario's lead from the spot in the 61st minute after another VAR intervention. The match grew increasingly fraught, with Anderson Santamaría shown a red card in the 86th minute, leaving Cajamarca to finish with ten men. José Lugo added a fourth penalty of the evening in the 88th minute to seal the result. There is no value left at that number when you're chasing the game.
Statistics tell a story that doesn't quite match possession. Cajamarca held 59 per cent of the ball and registered 11 shots, but only four found the target. Universitario, with 41 per cent possession, produced six shots on target from eight attempts — a 75 per cent accuracy rate that speaks to clinical finishing. The hosts created two big chances while the visitors managed three, but only one team took full advantage.
The result leaves Universitario second on 45 points from 24 matches, while Cajamarca remain 16th with 24 points after 25 games. The visitors will know they need the points badly if they hope to challenge for the title, but this was never going to be straightforward against a side fighting for survival. The clean-sheet run came to an end, but the three points are what counted.