Atlético Nacional saw off Deportivo Cali 2-1 in the Clausura seventh round at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot on Thursday, 27 August 2026. And here's the thing about matches like this — the turning point rarely arrives when the scoreline suggests it should. The Colombian side kept their place at the top of the table with a result that mattered more for composure than dominance.
Sarmiento opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, a clean finish that settled the home crowd. Uribe brought the hosts down to ten men in the fifty-second minute after picking up two yellows in quick succession. By then the game had shifted, and Cali began to believe.
Moreno levelled in the sixty-fourth minute, a moment that reset the tension. Benedetti put Nacional ahead in the seventy-fourth minute, and the visitors had no answer. There is unrest in the dressing room when you lose your shape after a dismissal, and Cali never quite recovered.
Nacional enjoyed 51 per cent possession and registered nine shots on target, though their expected goals figure of 0.9 tells a different story. They created two big chances compared to Cali's one, and the visitors' goalkeeper had to make seven saves. Shots accuracy sat at 60 per cent for the hosts, while Cali managed just 38 per cent.
The result leaves Atlético Nacional in first place with 40 points from 19 matches — thirteen wins, a draw, five defeats. Deportivo Cali remain in ninth with 27 points after seven victories, six draws and six losses. The gap between them is now thirteen points, and the race for the top four has begun to take shape.
