Santiago Morning beat Colina 2:1 in the Segunda División's Relegation Group - 2 on Sunday evening. The result keeps both sides in the lower half of the table, though it shifts the gap between them by a point. By then the home side had already established a rhythm that Colina struggled to match.
M. Arancibia opened the scoring in the third minute, and F. Alvarez added another two minutes later. Colina pulled one back through J. Monje in the seventy-fifth minute, but the damage was done. And here's the thing — the home side were camped in the final third from the opening whistle, and that pressure told.
There were four yellow cards in total, with N. Palomo and A. Hormazabal booked before the break. J. Bravo and P. Lobos picked up their cards in the second half. To be fair the intensity picked up after the change, and substitutions came thick and fast. M. Munoz started the home changes on the hour, while Colina brought on three players around the seventy-eighth minute.
The statistics tell a straightforward story. Colina had 52 per cent possession and 113 attacks, but only four shots on target. Santiago Morning held 48 per cent and were more clinical, with five shots on target from 130 attacks. By then it was clear the home side were running the game even without the ball.
Colina remain eleven places above the drop zone with twelve points from twelve games, while Santiago Morning sit thirteenth on ten. The gap between them narrows, but neither side has pulled away. And here's the thing — in a group where every point matters, this result might prove decisive come the end of the season.