Marathon took all three points at home to Genesis on Friday night, winning 2-1 in the fifth round of the National League Apertura. The result leaves the visitors sitting at the top of the table with eleven points from five games, while Genesis dropped to third with seven.
R. Sander gave the hosts the lead in the thirty-ninth minute, a moment that looked promising given their recent form. Three goals in their last five games had suggested momentum, but by then Marathon had already shown they could respond. D. Ramirez equalised shortly after the break in the forty-eighth minute, and J. Bueso turned it around with a goal in the fifty-third minute. One mistake ends it when you are playing against a side that knows how to punish you.
Marathon made their changes early, bringing on L. Carcamo just after the interval and following with D. Ramirez himself in fifty-two minutes. The hosts tried to match them later, with D. Melendez and A. Alvarado arriving together in sixty-first minute. D. Nunez and J. Mosquera came on for Genesis in seventy-seventh minute, while N. Messiniti and J. Bueso were replaced in the closing stages. C. Argueta was the last to come off in ninety-fourth minute.
The statistics tell a story of chances going begging. Genesis had 54 per cent possession and 116 attacks to Marathon's 120, but the visitors took 12 shots to the hosts' eight. Shots on target were four to three in favour of Genesis, yet Marathon converted two. Expected goals would not favour the home side here — many shots with one goal means chances went begging, and that is what happened.
The result extends Marathon's unbeaten run to eight across all competitions. They have not lost a game since August twentieth, and this win puts two points clear at the summit. Genesis picked up a point against Atletico Independiente last time out but this defeat means they need to find consistency. The gap between first and third is now four points, and Marathon fancy their chances of holding on if they keep this form going.