Alianza hosted San Francisco in the Apertura round seven of the Panamanian football league on Saturday evening, and the match finished 0:0. Both sides created chances but neither could find the net in a game that belonged to neither. The result keeps Alianza second on 27 points and San Francisco fourth on 20.
Early in the second half Alianza broke the deadlock, with A. Mendoza scoring at the 47th minute before adding a second just three minutes later. San Francisco responded through R. Dinolis in the 80th minute, and there was another goal recorded at 77 minutes as well. The final score remained level, though, which tells you something about how ends are supposed to work.
By then the yellow cards had piled up. San Francisco collected four, Alianza one, and the game grew increasingly fragmented. Substitutions came thick and fast from both benches — B. Walters and O. Campos for Alianza at the break, Calderon and Mendoza shortly after, while San Francisco brought on K. Bonilla and S. Moreno in the 78th minute.
The statistics tell a story of two teams evenly matched. Alianza registered 101 attacks with 11 shots on target, San Francisco 105 attacks and 12 shots on target. Possession sat at 41 per cent for the hosts and 59 for the visitors, but neither management was out-thought on the touchline. Shots off target were equal at six apiece, corners three each.
We had backed Alianza to win with 53 per cent confidence, but the match went another way. Both sides were active, both were creative, and neither could close the game out. That is the thing about games like this — you can have the numbers and still not have the result.
The table barely shifted. Alianza remain second with six wins, nine draws and one defeat from 16 games. San Francisco sit fourth with five wins, five draws and six losses, seven points behind their hosts. The gap stays the same, and the race stays open.