El Nacional held on for a hard-fought 1:0 victory over third-placed De Octubre in their Liga Pro Serie B encounter on Wednesday evening. The hosts, sitting in 12th place with 12 points from 22 games, found themselves against a side that had won nine and drawn ten all season. By then, the scoreboard told the simpler story than the table suggested.
The decisive moment arrived in the 56th minute when El Nacional struck. The goal came from open play and proved enough to separate the two sides, though neither team dominated possession. To be fair, the statistics showed both teams registered 88 attacks, yet only one side converted.
El Nacional were more dangerous in front of goal, landing three shots on target compared to De Octubre's single effort on goal. The visitors managed four corners but could only direct one effort at the keeper. El Nacional registered two corners and four shots off target, but there is no value left at that number when you are chasing a clean sheet.
The table tells a different story entirely. De Octubre sit third with 37 points, having lost just three matches all campaign. El Nacional, meanwhile, have picked up one win from their last five outings, including a 3:1 victory over 22 de Julio last week. This result does not move them towards safety, but it certainly did not hurt.
The match ended with De Octubre collecting five yellow cards against El Nacional's three. The visitors may have dominated throw-ins with 44 to 20, but they found no answer to a compact home side. Cup football has its own rules, and this regular season encounter reminded everyone that results do not always follow expectations.