Deportivo Cali claimed a 1-0 victory away to Sant-Fe in the Clausura round 12 of the Primera A on Tuesday night at the Estadio Nemecio Camacho El Campin. The result moves the visitors up to ninth place on 27 points, while the hosts remain seventh on 29 points after 19 games each.
The only goal came in the 38th minute when Eduard Bello found the net for the visitors. VAR confirmed the strike as a valid goal shortly after, with Johan Martinez receiving the official nod. By then the home side had already seen the visitors carve out something meaningful — and here's the thing, they rarely get chances like that against disciplined sides.
Sant-Fe's evening fractured in the 87th minute when Daniel Torres was shown a red card. The hosts had already made three changes by then, bringing on Jader Obrian, Victor Moreno and Christian Mafla in quick succession. They added two more substitutions in the closing stages, but the numerical advantage had slipped away.
The statistics tell a familiar story of domination without reward. Sant-Fe held 55 per cent possession and launched 141 attacks compared to 130 from Deportivo Cali. They registered 16 shots with five on target, generating 1.19 expected goals, while the visitors managed nine shots and 0.41 xG. The hosts created four big chances against one for the away side, yet shots accuracy sat at 26 per cent for Sant-Fe versus 44 per cent for Deportivo Cali.
We had backed a home win with 44 per cent confidence going into this one, and the match went another way entirely. It wasn't a lack of effort — Sant-Fe completed 408 passes and pushed 112 into the final third — but the red card changed the complexion. Three or four moments decide these games, and the rest is just noise.
The result leaves both sides within touching distance of each other in the table. Sant-Fe now need to find a way to convert possession into something tangible, while Deportivo Cali can take comfort from their defensive resilience. They made 33 clearances and won 10 tackles, enough to hold on when it mattered.
